[4] In his introductory lectures of 1915, at the University of Vienna, Freud popularized the concept of the unconscious as the largest and most influential part of the mind, including those drives, instincts and motives humans are often forced to deny except in disguised form.
[7] Jonathan Lear has argued that there was in fact an ethical dimension to Freud's concept of the reality principle, in that it was opposed to a neurotically distorted world-view.
In order to do so, the reality principle does not ignore the id, but strives instead to satisfy its desires in balanced and socially appropriate ways, through awareness of and adjustment to environmental demands.
The manner in which it moderates the pleasure principle and assures satisfaction of instinctual needs is by weighing the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to act upon or ignore an impulse.
The ego does not strive to eradicate urges, but instead it temporarily halts the discharge of the id's energy until a more suitable, safe and realistic time and place can be found.
[11] While some of Freud's ideas may be faulty and others not easily testable, he was a peerless observer of the human condition, and enough of what he proposed, particularly concerning the reality principle, manifests itself in daily life.
[12] Rebellion against the constraints of the reality principle, in favour of a belief in infantile omnipotence, appears as a feature of all neurotic behavior - something perhaps seen most overtly in the actions of gamblers.
A further change in the reality principle from adolescence to adulthood can be a critical transition in its consolidation; but the impact of certain traumatic experiences may prove to be detrimental from within the unconscious.
As it succeeds in establishing its dominance as a regulatory principle over the id, the search for satisfaction does not take the most direct routes, but instead postpones attainment of its goal in accordance with conditions imposed by the outside world, or in other words, deferred gratification.
These two forces clash because impulses encourage action without any premeditated thought or deliberation and little regard to consequences, compromising the role of the reality principle.
If an individual lacks sufficient impulse control, it represents a defect of repression that may lead to severe psychosocial problems (Kipnis 1971; Reich 1925; Winshie 1977).
Through maturity and a better sense of self, individuals can find the strength to gradually develop the reality principle and learn to defer pleasure by making more rational and controlled choices.