Ever feel like you’re caught between what you want to do and what you should do? In this post, we dive deep into Sigmund Freud’s structural theory of personality that encompasses the Id, Ego, and Superego. We explore how these three components function, learn about the roles of Eros and Thanatos, and review where things stand with these concepts today.
To talk about Id, Ego, and Superego, we have to start by mentioning Sigmund Freud. As part of his work with Psychoanalysis, he came to theorize the Id, Ego, and Superego. There were part of his structural theory to explain personality. However, it wasn’t the first theory he had to try to do so. If you haven’t seen my post or video on his Topographic Model, check those out! Similar to his Topographic Model, the Id, Ego, and Superego can be represented visually using an iceberg. If you watch the video on this topic, you’ll be able to see that explained. According to Freud, the Id, Ego, and Superego each represent different psychological drives that are competing. We’ll break down the Id, Ego, and Superego in just a bit.
Freud believed that Eros and Thanatos were the basic forces that motivated personality, and that these core drives were at odds with each other. He believed that Eros was about life and sex, and it is referred to as the Life Instinct in Psychoanalysis. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), the life instinct is “the drive comprising the self-preservation instinct, which is aimed at individual survival, and the sexual instinct”.
Eros is at odds with Thanatos—as Freud referred to it—or what Psychoanalysis calls the Death Instinct. The APA defines this as “a drive whose aim is the reduction of psychical tension to the lowest possible point, that is, death. It is first directed inward as a self-destructive tendency and is later turned outward in the form of the aggressive instinct”. So simply, for Freud, Thanatos was about death and aggression. These were the basic forces that he believed drove a person and were at the base of the Id.
Freud believed that the Id was present at birth, and that it was driven by instinctual needs. Not only that, he believed that the Id never matured; it only ever stayed as it was at birth. Like a newborn baby, the Id is not rational or logical, it is only concerned with itself and how it can find satisfaction.
Often, the Id will be described as chaotic. If we think back to Eros and Thanatos, these are the drives for life and death, sex and aggression. These are competing urges, and the chaos of the Id could be thought of as caused by these drives and the internal competition they have. What’s more, the Id is thought to have no morals or values, nor does it have a sense of time or a concept of organization. This also explains the chaos that the Id causes.
The Id is often called the Pleasure Principle because pleasure is ultimately what it is driving toward. It has a desire for pleasure and wants that to be satisfied no matter the cost. It runs off of instinct for this, and it is all said to happen unconsciously. But, there are times where Psychoanalytic theory believes the Id does make an appearance. This includes through a slip of the tongue or in dreams, to name a couple.
Where the Id is driven by instinct and urge, the Ego is more rational and functions on logic. The role of the Ego is to control impulses and use the power of reasoning to help control a person. As I mentioned before, the Id is referred to as the Pleasure Principle. The Ego, on the other hand, is called the Reality Principle and is also referred to as the Executive Administrator by some. Part of what the Ego is driven by is the desire to survive, and it works to help satisfy the urges and desires of the Id in a way that doesn’t harm others. Jones-Smith says that the Ego is the “center of one’s personality” and Freud called it “a facade of the Id”.
In a previous video, I discussed defense mechanisms, or Ego defense mechanisms. According to Rosenthal, Ego defense mechanisms “are unconscious strategies, which distort reality and are based on self-deception to protect our self-image” and Jones-Smith defines them as “intrapsychic processes that serve to protect a person from anxiety-provoking thoughts or threats to the self”. So, in psychoanalytic theory, these are a form of self-protection from the Ego.
It is not only the Id that the Ego manages though, it must also contend with the Superego. In fact, the Ego is often considered a mediator between the Id and Superego. Many visualize the Ego as a fulcrum that is trying to balance the needs, wants, and desires of the Id and Superego.
According to Freud, the Superego is where one develops morality. So when you think of a person’s conscience, think of the Superego. It is also referred to as the Ego Ideal; and in Psychoanalytic theory, they believe that the messages one receives from their parents, caretakers, and society are what shape the morals, values, and ideals their Superego holds. Freud believed that the Superego developed as a result of the Oedipus complex, but that will need to be a topic for a different day.
When it comes down to it though, the Superego is seen as perfectionistic and rigid. It is considered by some to be a force that controls one to stick to what is right or ideal, and it strives for what is aspirational rather than what is realistic. With the perfectionism and rigidity that the Superego holds, Psychoanalytic theory believes that this can result in more neurotic behavior when the Superego has too much control. They also believe that someone with an overactive Superego is likely going to be perfectionistic.
Psychoanalytic Theory & More
As you likely noticed, I mentioned Psychoanalytic theory throughout this post. This is the school of thought where the concepts of the Id, Ego, and Superego originate. They are not the only ones to use these though. Although it is technically under the Psychoanalytic umbrella, Ego Psychology has moved away from many classic Psychoanalytic views. However, as the name suggests, it is influenced by some of the ways the Ego is thought to function, but they also have different take on it.
While it is helpful to learn about Freud’s concepts of the Id, Ego, and Superego—seeing that these were early ideas that helped to shape the field of psychology as we know it today—his ideas have been criticized. For one, Freud’s work is often based on his observations, not empirical research. And in the case of the Id, Ego, and Superego, he believed these were from unconscious and hidden processes. If something is unconscious and hidden as he thought, that makes it hard to either prove or disprove. That said, it does not seem that most agree with these ideas the way that Freud theorized them. Some of these terms do still exist today, but are often used to mean something other than what Freud meant.
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