In psychology, describing thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that feel consistent with a person's self-image and values, so they don't feel bothered by them even if they're problematic.
From ego plus syntonic (from Greek syn- 'together' plus tonos 'tone'). The term emerged in psychotherapy to describe when a person's thoughts align with their sense of self, making them resistant to change.
Egosyntonic is crucial in therapy because it explains why some people don't think they have a problem—their bad habits feel like 'them,' so they defend them instead of changing them, while ego-dystonic things feel foreign and cause anxiety.
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