Sigmund Freud created a psychological theory known as psychoanalytic theory which consists of three concepts, the id, the ego, and the super ego. These three components make up someone’s personality and work together to create complex human behaviours.
The first component is the id. The id is entirely unconscious and responsible for primitive and instinctive behaviour. According to Freud it is the only component that is present at birth, and is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of behaviour. The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension. For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate attempt to eat or drink.
According to Freud, The ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world. The ego functions in the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind. The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality. The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id’s desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. The reality principle weighs the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses. In many cases, the id’s impulses can be satisfied through a process of delayed gratification—the ego will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the appropriate time and place. Freud compared the id to a horse and the ego to the horse’s rider. The horse provides the 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 last component of personality to develop is the superego. According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age five. The superego holds the internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from our parents and society (our sense of right and wrong). The superego provides guidelines for making judgments.
The superego has two parts:
- The conscience includes information about things that are viewed as bad by parents and society. These behaviors are often forbidden and lead to bad consequences, punishments, or feelings of guilt and remorse.
- The ego ideal includes the rules and standards for behaviors that the ego aspires to.
The superego tries to perfect and civilize our behavior. It works to suppress all unacceptable urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather that upon realistic principles. The superego is present in the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.
https://www.verywellmind.com/the-id-ego-and-superego-2795951
Freud’s theory relates to Frankenstein where there Creature embodies the personality component ‘id’, and he never reaches the ego stage which is why he can’t control his impulses and acts out and hurts William.
Recent Comments