Application of Freud’s Theory of the Id, Ego and Superego Essay Example
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Application of Freud’s theory of the Id, Ego and Superego
Heng Fason
B1201816
HELP UNIVERSITY
PSY 111
2
May is a 17 year old high school student in Malaysia. Her parents view education as a very important aspect in life and a way to achieve success, hence are compelling May to achieve good grades in her studies. As her parents think she should concentrate on her studies they are against the idea of her earning extra pocket money to buy some of the things she wants by taking up a part-time job. Furthermore, they disapprove of her boyfriend of two years as they feel that he might be a distraction to her studies. Also, her parents object her ambition of being a hairdresser, as they think she has the potential to one day become a working professional. In this essay I will illustrate her attitudes and behaviours depending on which aspect of personality (Id, Ego, Superego) according to Freud’s theory when applied to her.
Freud’s theory of the Id, Ego and Superego implies that they are the main driving forces behind our personality, operating mostly in our subconscious. Id is described as the primal, unconscious energy which seeks immediate gratification to our needs, regardless to our surroundings (Freud, 1929). It seeks immediate gratification for our basic needs, including all our biological needs, urges, wishes and wants. However, there is the ‘opposite’ of the Id which is the Superego, which integrates the morals and social corrective-ness we learn from parents, our culture and the society. It controls the impulses of the id, especially sex and aggression. It enforces an image of an ‘ideal self’, which is a mental picture of the person one should be, and also the ‘conscience’, which punish an individual through guilt when one acts in a bad way in comparison with the ideal self (McLeod,2009). Because of the two extremes, a ‘mediator’ is present, which would be the ego. It strives to maintain balance between superego and id, and tries to meet the demands
Application of Freud’s theory of the Id, Ego and Superego
Heng Fason
B1201816
HELP UNIVERSITY
PSY 111
2
May is a 17 year old high school student in Malaysia. Her parents view education as a very important aspect in life and a way to achieve success, hence are compelling May to achieve good grades in her studies. As her parents think she should concentrate on her studies they are against the idea of her earning extra pocket money to buy some of the things she wants by taking up a part-time job. Furthermore, they disapprove of her boyfriend of two years as they feel that he might be a distraction to her studies. Also, her parents object her ambition of being a hairdresser, as they think she has the potential to one day become a working professional. In this essay I will illustrate her attitudes and behaviours depending on which aspect of personality (Id, Ego, Superego) according to Freud’s theory when applied to her.
Freud’s theory of the Id, Ego and Superego implies that they are the main driving forces behind our personality, operating mostly in our subconscious. Id is described as the primal, unconscious energy which seeks immediate gratification to our needs, regardless to our surroundings (Freud, 1929). It seeks immediate gratification for our basic needs, including all our biological needs, urges, wishes and wants. However, there is the ‘opposite’ of the Id which is the Superego, which integrates the morals and social corrective-ness we learn from parents, our culture and the society. It controls the impulses of the id, especially sex and aggression. It enforces an image of an ‘ideal self’, which is a mental picture of the person one should be, and also the ‘conscience’, which punish an individual through guilt when one acts in a bad way in comparison with the ideal self (McLeod,2009). Because of the two extremes, a ‘mediator’ is present, which would be the ego. It strives to maintain balance between superego and id, and tries to meet the demands