The Structure of Personality
- Freud describes personality as a tripartite (consisting of three parts), these are the Id, Ego and Superego
- The Id, Ego and Superego all develop at different points in a person's life and each is qualitatively distinct from the other
- The Id, Ego and Superego are not separate entities: they work together but not necessarily in harmony
The Id
- Present from birth (Freud describes babies as being 'bundles of id')
- The id is the primitive part of our personality and operates on the pleasure principle
- It is selfish and demanding, rather like a spoilt child e.g. I want it 'now!'
- It contains unconscious biological drives, instincts and and urges
- The Id is very important in early life to ensure infants survival, which is why an infant will cry until its needs are met
The Ego
- Develops around the age 2
- The ego operates on the reality principle, rather like a sensible adult e.g. 'I'd like to have that but it may take time to get it and I must accept that it may never happen'
- It is the mediator between the Id and Superego, having to mediate between them at all times
The Superego
- Develops around the age of 5
- The superego operates on the morality principle, rather like a disapproving teacher or parent e.g. 'Why would anyone want that? It's wrong and it means that you are weak to want it'
- It is our internalised sense of right and wrong, it is our conscience
- It represents the moral standards of the same-sex parent
- It punishes the ego through feelings of guilt when it does something wrong and it rewards the ego with feelings of pride when it does something right
- It tries to civilise our behaviour and suppress the unacceptable urges of the Id
The Id, Ego and Superego
Imbalance
- Freud stated that for a healthy personality there had to be a balance between the Id, Ego and Superego
- However;
- If the Id is more dominant, the person can become impulsive and uncontrollable as they are acting on their most basic wants with no concern for consequences
- If the Superego is more dominant, the person can become incredibly moralistic and judgmental, not accepting anything they consider against their moral judgment
