Id, Ego, and Superago
Name: Kristoffer Asetre Subject: Theries of Personality
PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY: Id, Ego, Superego
Sigmund Freud
Freud formulated a unique way of thinking about the mind, made up of three parts: Id, Ego, and Superego. These three structures describe the way we think and make decisions on a day-to-day basis. The id is the part of the mind that wants what it wants, and wants it now. It is demanding and childish, and operates via the pleasure principle. This simply means that it motivates you to do things that make you happy. This is the structure we were born with, according to Freud. Think about a baby—its thoughts aren’t that complex. It just wants things. Throughout our life there is always a part of our mind that demands we do whatever necessary to make ourselves happy. According to Freud the Superego structure develops later, when a child starts learning from its parents, teachers, and society what it should and shouldn’t do. The superego is our conscience, and tells us what is right and wrong. It operates via idealist principle and it wants us to do what is right and avoid what is wrong, and is just as demanding as the id in its own way. If you do something you know you shouldn’t do, it’s the superego that makes you feel guilty. The ego is the most conscious part of your mind, and it functions via the reality principle. This means that it has to figure out a way to compromise between the demands of the other two structures, to take what the id and superego want into account and chose a realistic course of action. A best example would be is my discernment to construct this critique paper for Theories of Personality due this Thursday. My Id keeps demanding to play games or watch movies especially this weekend, however my Superego says that I have a duty as a student to pass an assignment in Psychology. An individual who has a healthy Ego would give consideration to both demands. The best decision I could give is first to finish this paper and after I
PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY: Id, Ego, Superego
Sigmund Freud
Freud formulated a unique way of thinking about the mind, made up of three parts: Id, Ego, and Superego. These three structures describe the way we think and make decisions on a day-to-day basis. The id is the part of the mind that wants what it wants, and wants it now. It is demanding and childish, and operates via the pleasure principle. This simply means that it motivates you to do things that make you happy. This is the structure we were born with, according to Freud. Think about a baby—its thoughts aren’t that complex. It just wants things. Throughout our life there is always a part of our mind that demands we do whatever necessary to make ourselves happy. According to Freud the Superego structure develops later, when a child starts learning from its parents, teachers, and society what it should and shouldn’t do. The superego is our conscience, and tells us what is right and wrong. It operates via idealist principle and it wants us to do what is right and avoid what is wrong, and is just as demanding as the id in its own way. If you do something you know you shouldn’t do, it’s the superego that makes you feel guilty. The ego is the most conscious part of your mind, and it functions via the reality principle. This means that it has to figure out a way to compromise between the demands of the other two structures, to take what the id and superego want into account and chose a realistic course of action. A best example would be is my discernment to construct this critique paper for Theories of Personality due this Thursday. My Id keeps demanding to play games or watch movies especially this weekend, however my Superego says that I have a duty as a student to pass an assignment in Psychology. An individual who has a healthy Ego would give consideration to both demands. The best decision I could give is first to finish this paper and after I