MINISTRY OF HIGHER &

TERTIARY EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
JOSHUA MQABUKO NKOMO POLYTECHNIC
P.BAG 5832
GWANDA

FACULTY OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION APPLIED BIOLOGICAL

SCIENCES ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT

NATIONAL DIPLOMA 1
STUDENT NAME WELLINGTON NGIRAZI

CANDIDATE No:

COURSE CODE: 605/15/TN/0

SUBJECT CODE: 605/S03

SUBJECT TITLE: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

PRACTICAL/THEORY/TEST NO:.1

DUE DATE: 03 AUGUST 2021

LECTURER: MR M MASUKU

MARKS OBTAINED MARKER MODERATOR

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DATE ……………………………………………………………………….

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FACULTY OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION APPLIED BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT

QUESTION
(A) Define social psychology in brief [5]
(B) Using psycho analytic theorist, Sregmud Freu, explain all his inhibits theories and
project the importance of all the stages in Environmental health [45]
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, beliefs,
intentions and goals are constructed within a social context by the actual or imagined
interactions with others. Social psychologists believe that human behavior is determined by
both a person’s characteristics and the social situation. They also believe that the social
situation is frequently a stronger influence on behavior than are a person’s characteristics.
Social psychology is largely the study of the social situation. Our social situations
create social influence—the process through which other people change our thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors and through which we change theirs. Social psychology has bridged
the gap between psychology and sociology to an extent, but a divide still exists between the
two fields. Nevertheless, sociological approaches to psychology remain an important
counterpart to conventional psychological research. In addition to the split between
psychology and sociology, there is difference in emphasis between American and European
social psychologists, as the former traditionally have focused more on the individual,
whereas the latter have generally paid more attention to group-level phenomena.
Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality argues that human behavior is the
result of the interactions among three component parts of the mind: the id,
ego, and superego. This theory, known as Freud’s structural theory of personality, places
great emphasis on the role of unconscious psychological conflicts in shaping behavior and
personality. Dynamic interactions among these fundamental parts of the mind are thought
to progress through five distinct psychosexual stages of development. Over the last century,
however, Freud’s ideas have since been met with criticism, in part because of his singular
focus on sexuality as the main driver of human personality development.
According to Freud, our personality develops from the interactions among what he
proposed as the three fundamental structures of the human mind: the id, ego, and superego.
Conflicts among these three structures, and our efforts to find balance among what each of
them “desires,” determines how we behave and approach the world. What balance we
strike in any given situation determines how we will resolve the conflict between two
overarching behavioral tendencies: our biological aggressive and pleasure-seeking drives
vs. our socialized internal control over those drives.
The Id
Environmental health being the branch of public health concerned with monitoring or
mitigating those factors in the environment that affect human health and disease .
According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary
component of personality.
 The id is the only component of personality that is present from birth.
 This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes instinctive and
primitive behaviors.
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.
The id, the most primitive of the three structures, is concerned with instant gratification of
basic physical needs and urges. It operates entirely unconsciously (outside of conscious
thought). For example, if your id walked past a stranger eating ice cream, it would most
likely take the ice cream for itself. It doesn’t know, or care, that it is rude to take something
belonging to someone else; it would care only that you wanted the ice cream.
The Superego
As a public health officer an EHT has to blend in to any society to be able to conduct their
duties effectively. An EHT must have certain attributes and morals examples of which
include ,Always tell the truth, do not destroy property, have courage’ keep your promises,
do not cheat, treat others as you want to be treated, do not judge be dependable.
The superego is concerned with social rules and morals—similar to what many people call
their ” conscience ” or their “moral compass.” It develops as a child learns what their
culture considers right and wrong. If your superego walked past the same stranger, it would
not take their ice cream because it would know that that would be rude. However, if both
your id and your superego were involved, and your id was strong enough to override your
superego’s concern, you would still take the ice cream, but afterward you would most
likely feel guilt and shame over your actions.
The Ego
In contrast to the instinctual id and the moral superego, the ego is the rational, pragmatic
part of our personality. It is less primitive than the id and is partly conscious and partly
unconscious. It’s what Freud considered to be the “self,” and its job is to balance the
demands of the id and superego in the practical context of reality. So, if you walked past
the stranger with ice cream one more time, your ego would mediate the conflict between
your id (“I want that ice cream right now”) and superego (“It’s wrong to take someone
else’s ice cream”) and decide to go buy your own ice cream. While this may mean you
have to wait 10 more minutes, which would frustrate your id, your ego decides to make that
sacrifice as part of the compromise– satisfying your desire for ice cream while also
avoiding an unpleasant social situation and potential feelings of shame.
Freud believed that the id, ego, and superego are in constant conflict and that adult
personality and behavior are rooted in the results of these internal struggles throughout
childhood. He believed that a person who has a strong ego has a healthy personality and
that imbalances in this system can lead to neurosis (what we now think of as anxiety and
depression) and unhealthy behaviors.
Psychosexual Stages of Development
Freud believed that the nature of the conflicts among the id, ego, and superego change over
time as a person grows from child to adult. Specifically, he maintained that these conflicts
progress through a series of five basic stages, each with a different focus: oral, anal, phallic,
latency, and genital. He called his idea the psychosexual theory of development, with each
psychosexual stage directly related to a different physical center of pleasure.
Across these five stages, the child is presented with different conflicts between their
biological drives (id) and their social and moral conscience (supereg0) because their
biological pleasure-seeking urges focus on different areas of the body (what Freud called
“erogenous zones”). The child’s ability to resolve these internal conflicts determines their
future ability to cope and function as an adult. Failure to resolve a stage can lead one to
become fixated in that stage, leading to unhealthy personality traits; successful resolution
of the stages leads to a healthy adult
As an Environmental health technician I believe Freud invented and developed the
technique of psychoanalysis; for articulating the psychoanalytic theory of motivation,
mental illness, and the structure of the subconscious; and for influencing scientific and
popular conceptions of human nature by positing that both normal and abnormal thought.
However from an EHT’s perspective Freud's notion that the child's relationship to the
parent is responsible for everything from psychiatric diseases to criminal behavior has also
been thoroughly discredited and the influence of such theories is today regarded as a relic
of a permissive age in which "blame-the-parent" was the accepted dogma
From an EHT’s perspective Freud’s theories were also used as therapy by psychologist and
its application proved helpful in medical field.

Criticism of Freud’s Theories

Although Freud’s theories have many advantages that helped to expand our psychological
understanding of personality, they are not without limits.

Narrow Focus

In his singular emphasis on the structure of the human mind, Freud paid little to no attention to the
impact of environment, sociology, or culture. His theories were highly focused on pathology and
largely ignored “normal,” healthy functioning. He has also been criticized for his myopic view of
human sexuality to the exclusion of other important factors.

No Scientific Basis

Many critics point out that Freud’s theories are not supported by any empirical (experimental)
data. In fact, as researchers began to take a more scientific look at his ideas, they found that several
were unable to be supported: in order for a theory to be scientifically valid, it must be possible to
disprove (“falsify”) it with experimental evidence and many of Freud’s notions are not falsifiable.

Misogyny

Feminists and modern critics have been particularly critical of many of Freud’s theories, pointing
out that the assumptions and approaches of psychoanalytic theory are profoundly patriarchal
(male-dominated), anti-feminist, and misogynistic (anti-woman). Karen Horney, a psychologist
who followed Freud, saw the mainstream Freudian approach as having a foundation of “masculine
narcissism.” Feminist Betty Friedan referred to Freud’s concept of “penis envy” as a purely social
bias typical of the Victorian era and showed how the concept played a key role in discrediting
alternative notions of femininity in the early to mid-twentieth century.
REFERENCES
1.  Halberstadt, Max (c. 1921). "Sigmund Freud, half-length portrait, facing left,
holding cigar in right hand". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on
28 December 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
2. ^ Tansley, A.G. (1941). "Sigmund Freud. 1856–1939".  Obituary Notices of Fellows
of the Royal Society. 3 (9): 246–
75.  doi:10.1098/rsbm.1941.0002. JSTOR 768889. S2CID 163056149.
3. ^ "Freud" Archived 23 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Random House
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
4. ^ Jump up to:a b Ford & Urban 1965, p. 109
5. ^ Noel Sheehy; Alexandra Forsythe (2013). "Sigmund Freud". Fifty Key Thinkers
in Psychology. Routledge. ISBN  978-1-134-70493-4.