A talk about our Psychology

Id, Ego and Superego

picture credits: internet

Without getting into too much depth about who Sigmund Freud is, let's just get to understand about a model related to human psychology he has given (too relatable) and hard to resist believing.

 Perhaps Freud's single most enduring and important idea was that the human personality has more than one aspect. He structured human personality into three parts (i.e. tripartite), the ID, EGO, SUPEREGO, all developing at different stages in our lives. These are systems, not parts of the brain, or in any way physical.

ID:                     .

ID is the primitive of  and instinctive component of personality. It consists of all the inherited components of personality present at birth that are genetically transferred from our parents. The id is the impulsive (and unconscious) part of our psyche which responds directly and immediately to the instincts. For eg: Reflexes

The personality of the newborn child is all id and only later does it develop an ego and super-ego. The id remains infantile in it's function throughout a persons life, and does not change with time or experience, as it is not in touch with the external world. The id is not affected by reality, logic or the everyday world, as it operates within the unconscious part of the mind.

The id operates on the pleasure principle which is the idea that every wishful impulse should be satisfied immediately, regardless of the consequences. When the id achieves its demands we experience pleasure, when it is denied we experience ‘un-pleasure’ or tension.

The id engages in primary process thinking, which is primitive, illogical, irrational, and fantasy oriented. This form of process thinking has no comprehension of objective reality, and is selfish and wishful in nature.

The EGO (or I)               .

The ego develops in order to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real world. It is the decision making component of personality. Ideally the ego works by reason, principles and logics developed with time.

The ego operates according to the reality principle, working out realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands, often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of society. The ego considers social realities and norms, etiquette and rules in deciding how to behave.

Like the id, the ego seeks pleasure and avoids pain. The ego has no concept of right or wrong; something is good simply if it achieves its end of satisfying without causing harm to itself or to the id.

Often the ego is weak relative to the headstrong id and the best the ego can do is stay on, pointing the id in the right direction and claiming some credit at the end as if the action were its own.

(PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AND TAKE YOUR REAL LIFE EXAMPLES TO UNDERSTAND BETTER)

The SUPEREGO (or Above I)            .

The superego incorporates the values and morals of society which are learned from one's parents and others. It develops around the age of 3 – 5 years. The superego's function is to control the id's impulses, especially those which society forbids, such as sex and aggression. It also has the function of persuading the ego to turn to moralistic goals rather than simply realistic ones and to strive for perfection.

The superego consists of two systems: The conscience and the ideal self. The conscience can punish the ego through causing feelings of guilt. For example, if the ego gives in to the id's demands, the superego may make the person feel bad through guilt. The ideal self (or ego-ideal) is an imaginary picture of how you ought to be, and represents career aspirations, how to treat other people, and how to behave as a member of society.

If a person’s ideal self is too high a standard, then whatever the person does will represent failure. The ideal self and conscience are largely determined in childhood from parental values and how you were brought up.