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Freuds Personality Structure

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Freuds Personality Structure
Donna Matser
B4
Connection Assignment 6

Freud’s personality structure is divided into three sections, Id, Superego, and Ego. Freud explained this concept by using an iceberg. He says that the tip of the iceberg or the part that floats above water is our conscious awareness which would be the ego also known as the executive mediator, below the surface the much larger area is the Id, and the superego which is just a little above water and also a little below water. The ego and superego operate both consciously and unconsciously. The id is driven by the pleasure principle which demands for immediate gratification, needs, or wants. According to Freud the Id strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The ego is the conscious mind that mediates among the demands of the Id, superego, and reality, it satisfies the Id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain. The Superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized ideals, or more like our sense of right and wrong, it somewhat filters our judgments. One day me and my family were on our way back from the mall, we had been talking all day about how we were going to make a huge healthy salad when we got home with a bunch of different vegetables in it. While we were talking about making the salad my little brother Chris could not seem to get the thought of Taco Bell out of his mind. This was his Id or the unconscious mind telling to get Taco Bell, that it wouldn’t hurt just this once to be unhealthy about the situation. The second he mentioned it I started to tell him that he was doing really good with his new diet, he had finally started losing weight and gaining better eating habits. In the meantime, his ego was agreeing with me and trying to persuade him to just wait until he got home to eat the healthy salad that he would feel better afterwards knowing that he didn’t go with the unhealthy food just because he was craving Taco Bell. Finally he decided to convince my parents to take him to get Taco Bell, he made up an excuse about how he didn’t want to eat salad, that he has been wanting Taco Bell for days, of course he got his way. After he got his food we all went home and I enjoyed the salad. I started to joke around about how I felt so healthy since I ate the salad and he was going to be fat forever because he decided to eat Taco Bell. I knew his superego was kicking in, making him feel bad about himself and regretting eating the unhealthy food instead of the delicious salad. I taught him not to let his Id convince him to make decisions that he wouldn’t be happy with in the end. My real world scenario is an example of this psychological principle because it shows how just the littlest things you think about can lead back to your Id, Ego, or Superego. My little brother was just simply thinking about food and it was connected to the different parts of his personality. My scenario helps me realize that almost anything you think about can lead back to your personality structure. The scenario wouldn’t really have differed without the Id, Ego, and Superego but it did make me realize things from a different perspective. I feel like from now on when I think about certain things I will want to also think about which part of my personality really wants that certain something.

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