Sigmund Freud

Id, Ego and Superego

Background Information

• Id, ego and superego are three parts of the physic apparatus defined in Freud’s structural model of the psyche

• Theoretical constructs

• Id-Uncoordinated, instinctual trends

• Ego-Organized and realistic way of meeting the Id’s needs

• Superego-Critical moralising role

Id

• The Id is the unorganised section of a personality that contains basic drives; food, water, sex and basic impulses.

• Amoral and selfish, ruled by the pleasure-pain principle.

• Inherited and primal instincts, the need to survive.

Id- Eros and Thanatos

• Eros are life instincts. They are crucial to a pleasurable life, e.g. eat, drink, etc.

• Thanatos is our unconscious wish to die, putting an end to the everyday struggles for happiness and survival. Freud noted that the ‘death instinct’ escapes reality through fiction, media and drugs, and also indirectly represents itself through aggresion.

Ego• The ego acts to please the Id’s drive in

realistic ways that will benefit in the long term.• Organised, includes defensive, perceptual,

intellectual-cognitive and executive functions.• Conscious awareness resides in the ego.• Separates what is real and helps us organise

thoughts and make sense of them

Id and Ego

• The ego is said to be modified by the direct influence of the external world.

• It represents reason and common scenes. The Id contains passions

• Egos primary function is to find a balance between primal drives (Id) and reality

• Ego’s main concern is with the individual's safety

Superego

• Superego aims for perfection

• Criticises and prohibits his or her drives, fantasies, feelings, and actions.

• The Super-ego strives to act in a socially appropriate manner

• The Super-ego controls our sense of right and wrong and guilt

Connections Between Id, Ego and Superego

• Id and superego oppose each other, Id is self focused, whereas superego strives to act in a sociable manner

• Ego attempts to keep both the id and superego happy

• In Freud's theory, the ego mediates among the id, the super-ego and the external world

Id, Ego and Superego and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Id

Superego

Ego