Human behaviour is complex to understand, why somebody is behaving vaguely cannot be explained. Sigmund Freud the founder of psychoanalysis had said that personality is composed of three elements known as the id, the ego, and the superego. These elements work together to create multifaceted human behaviours. Each component is unique in nature and plays its distinctive role in contributing its input to personality. The three interact in ways that have a powerful influence on an individual. Each element of personality emerges at different points in life.
The Id
According to Freud, the id is the source of all intuitive/psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality. It’s the fundamental component of personality that is present from the birth of a human. This aspect of personality lies in the entirely unconscious mind. The unconscious mind is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that remain on the outer surface of our conscious awareness.
The conscious mind contains all of the thoughts, memories, feelings, and wishes of which we are aware at any given moment; whereas, the unconscious mind is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that are outside of our conscious awareness.
The id is very instinctive in nature and instigates erratic/impulsive behaviours. It is the impulsive part of our mind which responds directly and immediately to basic urges, needs and desires. The personality of the newborn child and toddlers is driven by id. It is unorganized, demanding, adamant, illogical, moral-less, instinctual, selfish and unconscious. Id is driven by the pleasure that strives for instant gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state of apprehension. For example, alcoholics and drug addicts crave for consumption of alcohol and drugs and they can go to any extent to have it; they can rob other’s money, hit somebody, cheat or do anything to buy and consume the stuff. Another example is an increase in hunger or thirst produces an immediate attempt to eat or drink.
The positive side of id in adults is that it acts as the driving force of personality. It strives to fulfil our goals and objectives. Also, id is the most basic urge that people have, many of which are tied directly to survival; it gives the energy which is necessary to achieve ambitions, survives from fatal diseases. As we mature in life, we learn to control id with ego and superego which develops with our education and experience of life. That’s why we say that education refines human minds.
The Ego
According to Freud, ego arises and develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world. Ego eventually emerges to moderate between the urges of the id and the demands of reality. The ego functions in the conscious, preconscious and unconscious mind. The Preconscious is dormant parts of the brain that are readily available to the conscious mind, although not currently in use. An example of preconscious mind is having readily available data in mind for giving clarification of a situation. When we brainstorm in a business meeting, we get the data stored in mind just in on spur of the moment to clarify our point. Freud used this term to make clear that self-consciousness is a part of the unconscious, not all of it, which is to say that the subdued does not comprise the whole unconsciously.
The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality. It operates on facts and realism. The reality weighs the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to act upon or discard impulses. Maturated people handle their id impulses to be satisfied through a process of delayed gratification. The basic function of the ego is based on patience.
Freud compared the id to a horse and the ego to the horse’s rider. The horse provides power and motion, while the rider provides direction and guidance. Without its rider, the horse may simply wander wherever it wished and do whatever it pleased. The rider gives the horse directions and commands to get it to go where the rider wants it to go. The ego guides our behaviour in our conscious life. It helps us control our impulses. When one feels like screaming at somebody in the office for talking a lie, ego rationalises the mind whether it’s worth it or not. When someone is depressed, his ego guides him to hide his depression to the outer world rationalising whether it’s worth showing others or not. The ego controls our anger, our feelings, and emotions through a secondary process of thinking in which the ego tries to find an object in the real world that matches the mental image created by the id’s primary process. Talking lies, cheating others to grab something, being very self-centred is ruled by id because it does not have morals.
The Superego
The last component of personality is the superego. According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age five. The superego holds the internalized moral standards and ethics that we acquire from our parents, teachers and society. Superego gives us a sense of right and wrong. The superego provides guidelines for making judgments. Therefore it is important to train your children from age 0 to 5 with a proper sense of moral values.
The superego has two parts: the conscious and ego ideal. The conscience superego includes information about behaviours that are viewed as bad by parents and society which are often forbidden and lead to bad consequences, punishments, or feelings of guilt and remorse. The ego ideal includes the rules and standards for behaviours that the ego aspires to achieve; for example, acquiring higher educational degrees, acquire special skills in life, mastering an art etc.
The superego tries to refine and perfectly civilize our behaviour. It works to restrain all undesirable urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather than upon realistic principles. The superego is present in the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. The superego is the ethical component of the personality and provides the moral standards on which the ego operates. The superego criticizes, prohibits and forms inhibitions in our conscious personality. The superego does both punishing and rewarding functions of the mind. Our childhood experience forms our superego; therefore it tends to be harsh and unrealistic in its demands. It is most often in search of proper behaviour and the id is in its search for pleasure.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the id, the ego, and the superego are not three separate entities and cannot be explained with clearly defined boundaries. These three elements of our behaviour are dynamic and always act together to influence our overall personality and behaviour. Freud used the term ego strength to refer to the ego’s ability to function despite the other two compelling forces id and superego. A person who has good ego strength can effectively manage the pressures of life, while a person with too much or too little ego strength can be obstinate or disruptive.
If the ego is able to effectively moderate between the demands of reality, the id, and the superego, a healthy and well-adjusted personality emerges. Freud believed that an imbalance between these elements would lead to an unruly personality.
An individual with an overly dominant id can commit suicide, can become a criminal, and can stab somebody easily. On the other hand, an overly dominant superego might lead to a personality that is extremely moralistic and disapproving. A person ruled by the superego might not be able to accept anything or anyone that they perceive to be “bad” or “immoral.”
In Freud’s view, a balance in the dynamic interaction of the id, ego, and superego is necessary for a healthy personality.
