Eros

Meaning: In Freud's psychoanalytic theory, Eros is the life instinct: the drive toward survival, pleasure, reproduction, and creative or connecting activity. Its energy is called libido. Freud later paired it with Thanatos, the death instinct, a drive toward aggression and destruction, and proposed that behavior reflects their interplay. The instincts are housed in the id, which follows the pleasure principle, while the ego and superego regulate how they are expressed.

On the MCAT: Expect a vignette to be matched to a drive. Seeking intimacy, eating, or creating suggests Eros, while self-destructive or aggressive behavior is attributed to Thanatos. Eros may also be placed within the id, ego, and superego framework. Passages may note that psychoanalytic ideas are hard to test empirically.

Common confusion: Eros is not just sexual desire. Freud used it broadly for life-preserving drives, with sexual energy as a major part. It is also not the id. Eros is a kind of instinct, and the id is the psychic structure that holds instincts.