ID, EGO, SUPEREGO
Id, ego, and super-ego are the three parts of the "psychic apparatus" defined in Freud's so-called structural model of the psyche, they are the three theoretical constructs in terms of whose activity and interaction mental life is described.
THE ID (“It”) in latin ("das Es")
functions in the irrational and emotional part of the mind. At birth a baby’s mind is all Id - want want want.
The id is responsible for our basic drives such as food, sex (Libido), and aggressive impulses (Thanatos). It is amoral and egocentric, ruled by the pleasure–pain principle. it is without a sense of time, completely illogical, primarily sexual, infantile in its emotional development, and will not take "no" for an answer. and it has only one rule --> “I want it and I want it all now”.
In transactional analysis, Id equates to "Child".
Id too strong = bound up in self-gratification and uncaring to others
THE EGO (“I”) in latin ("das Ich")
Conscious awareness resides in the ego, although not all of the operations of the ego are conscious. The Ego develops out of growing awareness that you can’t always get what you want. The Ego relates to the real world and operates via the “reality principle”.
The Ego realises the need for compromise and negotiates between the Id and the Superego. The Ego's job is to get the Id's pleasures but to be reasonable and bear the long-term consequences in mind.
The Ego denies both instant gratification and pious delaying of gratification. The term ego-strength is the term used to refer to how well the ego copes with these conflicting forces. To undertake its work of planning, thinking and controlling the Id, the Ego uses some of the Id's libidinal energy. In transactional analysis, Ego equates to "Adult".
Ego too strong = extremely rational and efficient, but cold, boring and distant
The Superego is the last part of the mind to develop. It comprises that organised part of the personality structure, mainly but not entirely unconscious .
The Superego becomes an embodiment of parental and societal values. It stores and enforces rules. It constantly strives for perfection, even though this perfection ideal may be quite far from reality or possibility. Its power to enforce rules comes from its ability to create anxiety.
The Superego has two subsystems, the Ego Ideal and Conscience.
The Ego Ideal provides rules for good behaviour, and standards of excellence towards which the Ego must strive. The Ego ideal is basically what the child’s parents approve of or value.
The Conscience is the rules about what constitutes bad behaviour. The Conscience is basically all those things that the child feels mum or dad will disapprove of or punish.
Superego too strong = feels guilty all the time, may even have an insufferably saintly personality
Additional resources
references
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id,_ego,_and_super-ego
0 comments:
Post a Comment