Definition of "psychodynamics" [psychodynamics]

• The interaction of various conscious and unconscious mental or emotional processes, especially as they influence personality, behavior, and attitudes. (noun)
• The study of personality and behavior in terms of such processes. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "To Madonna: The diagnosis of psychopath fits well and has been under used by myself and some of my colleagues who think in terms of "psychodynamics" more than specific diagnostic terms."
• "Referring to what he called the "psychodynamics" of groups falling into a "self-reverential mindset", he said M16's response to the absence of evidence of banned weapons was "simply to turn up the volume control to say, 'That just proves how devious Saddam Hussein is and how incompetent the inspectors are.'""
• "The Ego and the Id. A prominent paper studying of the human psyche outlining his theories of the psychodynamics of the id, ego, and super-ego, which is of fundamental importance in the development of psychoanalytic theory."