In Freud's psychoanalytical theory of personality, he organizes personality into three categories: the id, the ego, and the superego. He says that every person has a struggle between the id, the ego, and the superego. As we develop these, our psychosexual development also occurs. If problems occur while these are our psychosexual stages are developing, then fixation occurs. If the id and superego are unbalanced, you experience anxiety.
Id: According to Freud's theory we are born with an id. The id allows us to get our basic needs med. It is based on the pleasure principal. The id doesn't consider the reality of any situation, it wants whatever will make it feel good at that time. When the child needs something, the id complains, and the child gets what they want. The id doesn't care about what others want, only about what it wants at that moment.
Ego: When the child interacts more with the world and people, the ego begins to develop. It is based on reality. It understands that other people also have needs and desires and being selfish will just hurt us in the long run. The ego satisfies the needs of the id, while looking at the reality of a situation as well.
Superego: By the age of five it develops. The superego is our morality. It develops due to the moral and ethical limitations that our parents give to us. The superego is what lets us know between right and wrong.
According to Freud, a healthy person will have the ego as the strongest out of the three where it will satisfy the needs of the id and at the same time, not upset the superego and still be able to see the reality of every situation. If the id is too strong, the want for pleasure will take over the person's life. If the superego becomes too strong, the person will be too driven by morals. The id is seen as the angel on the shoulder and the superego is seen as the devil on the shoulder. The ego is seen as the person who has the "angel" and "devil" on his shoulders.
I know the whole point of Freud is that everything is unconscious and blah blah blah, but I feel like I should consciously be aware of all the little conflicts going on in my head. Sometimes, I do argue with myself (but not in a crazy way!) when I have to make decisions, but if the id, ego, and superego are constantly in conflict, shouldn't we at least be aware of those actual conflicts and not just the ramifications?
ReplyDelete