The Secondary Process and Delayed Gratification

The Secondary Process and Delayed Gratification Theories Behavioral Psychology Print The Secondary Process and Delayed Gratification By Kendra Cherry facebook twitter Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author, educational consultant, and speaker focused on helping students learn about psychology. Learn about our editorial policy Kendra Cherry Updated on July 19, 2019 Westend61/Getty Images More in Theories Behavioral Psychology Cognitive Psychology Developmental Psychology Personality Psychology Social Psychology Biological Psychology Psychosocial Psychology The secondary process helps manage and relieve tension created when the ego prevents the id from pursuing its urges or desires. Lets take a closer look at how the secondary process works. What Exactly Is the Secondary Process? In Freuds psychoanalytic theory of personality, the secondary process discharges the tension between the ego and the id that is caused by unmet urges or needs. The secondary process functions through the egos action of looking for an object in the real world that matches the mental image created by the ids primary process. As you may recall, Freud described the id as the most basic and primitive part of personality present from birth. It is the id that compels people to meet all of their most basic urges and needs. The ego, on the other hand, develops later and is responsible for mediating between the ids demands and the constraints of reality. A large part of the egos purpose is to delay the demands of the id until the appropriate time. The ego conforms to what is known as the reality principle. That is, the ego must take the demands and reality of the outside world into account in addition to the ids basic needs and urges. The reality principle is what leads us to weigh the potential risks and rewards of a particular action. If the action in improbable or inadvisable at the moment, we might delay it until a later time. If the risk of taking the action is simply too high, we will instead find alternative ways to fulfill the need. An Example of How It Works So lets imagine that you are in the middle of a psychology class lecture. Your stomach begins to rumble. The id begins to demand satisfaction, urging you to do something to end your hunger. What do you do? Run out of class to the nearest fast-food vendor? Reach out and grab a bag of licorice sitting on a classmates desk? Both of these actions would be inappropriate and could lead to some serious ramifications. Instead, the ego uses the secondary process to temporarily discharge the ids energy until you are able to safely and appropriately fulfill your need. You spend the last minutes of class fantasizing about a cheesy slice of pepperoni pizza. As soon as class is dismissed, you head to your favorite pizza parlor for lunch. As you might imagine, the strength of the secondary process can vary depending on a number of factors. If the ids needs are very urgent, like if you really need to get to a restroom as quickly as possible, these needs may override the ego and the secondary process and instead force you to act on such demands. Your ability to restrain the basic demands of the id have probably become stronger as you have grown older. According to Freud, a healthy adult personality is characterized by the ability to delay gratification until it is acceptable or realistic. You can learn more about how this process works in an overview of the id, ego, and superego.