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SIGMUND FREUD’S CONEPT OF SELF

Lecture Notes in UTS
Saint Mary’s University
Second Semester SY 2020-2021

Freud's Id, Ego, and Superego

According to Sigmund Freud, human personality is complex and has more than a single
component. In his famous psychoanalytic theory, Freud states that personality is composed of three
elements known as the id, the ego, and the superego. These elements work together to create complex
human behaviors.

Each component adds its own unique contribution to personality and the three interact in ways
that have a powerful influence on an individual. Each element of personality emerges at different
points in life.

According to Freud's theory, certain aspects of your personality are more primal and might
pressure you to act upon your most basic urges. Other parts of your personality work to counteract
these urges and strive to make you conform to the demands of reality. 

Here's a closer look at each of these key parts of the personality, how they work individually,
and how they interact.

The Id

 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 is very important early in life because it ensures that an infant's needs are met. If the
infant is hungry or uncomfortable, they will cry until the demands of the id are satisfied. Young infants
are ruled entirely by the id, there is no reasoning with them when these needs demand satisfaction.

Imagine trying to convince a baby to wait until lunchtime to eat their meal. The id requires
immediate satisfaction, and because the other components of personality are not yet present, the
infant will cry until these needs are fulfilled.

However, immediately fulfilling these needs is not always realistic or even possible. If we were
ruled entirely by the pleasure principle, we might find ourselves grabbing the things that we want out
of other people's hands to satisfy our own cravings.

This behavior would be both disruptive and socially unacceptable. According to Freud, the id
tries to resolve the tension created by the pleasure principle through the use of primary process
thinking, which involves forming a mental image of the desired object as a way of satisfying the need.
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Although people eventually learn to control the id, this part of personality remains the same
infantile, primal force throughout life. It is the development of the ego and the superego that allows
people to control the id's basic instincts and act in ways that are both realistic and socially acceptable.
The Ego

 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 ego also discharges tension created by unmet impulses through secondary process 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.

Imagine that you are stuck in a long meeting at work. You find yourself growing increasingly
hungry as the meeting drags on. While the id might compel you to jump up from your seat and rush to
the break room for a snack, the ego guides you to sit quietly and wait for the meeting to end.

Instead of acting upon the primal urges of the id, you spend the rest of the meeting imagining
yourself eating a cheeseburger. Once the meeting is finally over, you can seek out the object you were
imagining and satisfy the demands of the id in a realistic and appropriate manner.

The Superego
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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
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The Interaction of the Id, Ego, and Superego

When talking about the id, the ego, and the superego, it is important to remember that these
are not three separate entities with clearly defined boundaries. These aspects are dynamic and always
interacting to influence an individual's overall personality and behavior.

With many competing forces, it is easy to see how conflict might arise between the id, ego, and
superego. Freud used the term ego strength to refer to the ego's ability to function despite these
dueling forces.
A person who has good ego strength can effectively manage these pressures, while a person
with too much or too little ego strength can be unyielding or disruptive.

What Happens If There Is an Imbalance?

According to Freud, the key to a healthy personality is a balance between the id, the ego, and
the superego.

If the ego is able to adequately 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 a maladaptive personality.

For example, an individual with an overly dominant id might become impulsive,

uncontrollable, or even criminal. Such an individual acts upon their most basic urges with no concern
for whether their behavior is appropriate, acceptable, or legal.

On the other hand, an overly dominant superego might lead to a personality that is extremely
moralistic and judgmental. A person ruled by the superego might not be able to accept anything or
anyone that they perceive to be "bad" or "immoral."

Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development

How does personality develop? According to the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud,
children go through a series of psychosexual stages that lead to the development of the adult
personality. His theory described how personality developed over the course of childhood.

While Freud's theory of personality development is well-known in psychology, it has always

been quite controversial, both during Freud's time and in modern psychology.

One important thing to note is that contemporary psychoanalytic theories of personality

development have incorporated and emphasized ideas about internalized relationships and
interactions and the complex ways in which we maintain our sense of self into the models that began
with Freud.

An Overview of the Psychosexual Stages

Freud believed that personality developed through a series of childhood stages in which the pleasure-
seeking energies of the id become focused on certain erogenous areas. An erogenous zone is characterized as
an area of the body that is particularly sensitive to stimulation.

During the five psychosexual stages, which are the oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital stages,
the erogenous zone associated with each stage serves as a source of pleasure.

The psychosexual energy, or libido, was described as the driving force behind behavior.
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Psychoanalytic theory suggested that personality is mostly established by the age of five. Early
experiences play a large role in personality development and continue to influence behavior later in
life.

Each stage of development is marked by conflicts that can help build growth or stifle
development, depending upon how they are resolved. If these psychosexual stages are completed
successfully, a healthy personality is the result.

If certain issues are not resolved at the appropriate stage, fixations can occur. A fixation is a
persistent focus on an earlier psychosexual stage. Until this conflict is resolved, the individual will
remain "stuck" in this stage. A person who is fixated at the oral stage, for example, may be over-
dependent on others and may seek oral stimulation through smoking, drinking, or eating.
The Oral Stage
Age Range: Birth to 1 Year
Erogenous Zone: Mouth

During the oral stage, the infant's primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth, so
the rooting and sucking reflex is especially important. The mouth is vital for eating, and the infant
derives pleasure from oral stimulation through gratifying activities such as tasting and sucking.

Because the infant is entirely dependent upon caretakers (who are responsible for feeding the
child), the child also develops a sense of trust and comfort through this oral stimulation.

The primary conflict at this stage is the weaning process--the child must become less
dependent upon caretakers. If fixation occurs at this stage, Freud believed the individual would have
issues with dependency or aggression. Oral fixation can result in problems with drinking, eating,
smoking, or nail-biting.
The Anal Stage
Age Range: 1 to 3 years
Erogenous Zone: Bowel and Bladder Control
During the anal stage, Freud believed that the primary focus of the libido was on controlling
bladder and bowel movements. The major conflict at this stage is toilet training—the child has to
learn to control their bodily needs. Developing this control leads to a sense of accomplishment and
independence.

According to Freud, success at this stage is dependent upon the way in which parents approach
toilet training. Parents who utilize praise and rewards for using the toilet at the appropriate time
encourage positive outcomes and help children feel capable and productive.

Freud believed that positive experiences during the toilet training stage serve as the basis for
people to become competent, productive, and creative adults.

However, not all parents provide the support and encouragement that children need during
this stage. Some parents punish, ridicule, or shame a child for accidents.

According to Freud, inappropriate parental responses can result in negative outcomes. If

parents take an approach that is too lenient, Freud suggested that an anal-expulsive personality could
develop in which the individual has a messy, wasteful, or destructive personality.
If parents are too strict or begin toilet training too early, Freud believed that an anal-retentive
personality develops in which the individual is stringent, orderly, rigid, and obsessive.
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The Phallic Stage

Age Range: 3 to 6 Years
Erogenous Zone: Genitals

Freud suggested that during the phallic stage, the primary focus of the libido is on the genitals.
At this age, children also begin to discover the differences between males and females.

Freud also believed that boys begin to view their fathers as a rival for the mother’s
affections. The Oedipus complex describes these feelings of wanting to possess the mother and the
desire to replace the father. However, the child also fears that he will be punished by the father for
these feelings, a fear Freud termed castration anxiety.
The term Electra complex has been used to describe a similar set of feelings experienced by
young girls. Freud, however, believed that girls instead experience penis envy.
Eventually, the child begins to identify with the same-sex parent as a means of vicariously
possessing the other parent. For girls, however, Freud believed that penis envy was never fully
resolved and that all women remain somewhat fixated on this stage.

The Latent Period

Age Range: 6 to Puberty
Erogenous Zone: Sexual Feelings Are Inactive

During this stage, the superego continues to develop while the id's energies are suppressed.
Children develop social skills, values and relationships with peers and adults outside of the family.

The development of the ego and superego contribute to this period of calm. The stage begins

around the time that children enter into school and become more concerned with peer relationships,
hobbies, and other interests.
The latent period is a time of exploration in which the sexual energy repressed or dormant.
This energy is still present, but it is sublimated into other areas such as intellectual pursuits and social
interactions. This stage is important in the development of social and communication skills and self-
confidence.

As with the other psychosexual stages, Freud believed that it was possible for children to
become fixated or "stuck" in this phase. Fixation at this stage can result in immaturity and an inability
to form fulfilling relationships as an adult.

The Genital Stage

Age Range: Puberty to Death
Erogenous Zone: Maturing Sexual Interests

The onset of puberty causes the libido to become active once again. During the final stage of
psychosexual development, the individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite sex. This
stage begins during puberty but last throughout the rest of a person's life.

Where in earlier stages the focus was solely on individual needs, interest in the welfare of
others grows during this stage. The goal of this stage is to establish a balance between the various life
areas.

If the other stages have been completed successfully, the individual should now be well-
balanced, warm, and caring.
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Unlike the many of the earlier stages of development, Freud believed that the ego and superego
were fully formed and functioning at this point. Younger children are ruled by the id, which demands
immediate satisfaction of the most basic needs and wants.
Teens in the genital stage of development are able to balance their most basic urges against the
need to conform to the demands of reality and social norms.
What Is a Fixation?

In general, a fixation is an obsessive drive that may or may not be acted on involving an object,
concept, or person. Initially introduced by Sigmund Freud, a fixation is a persistent focus of the id’s
pleasure-seeking energies at an early stage of psychosexual development. Oral, anal, and phallic
fixations occur when an issue or conflict in a psychosexual stage remains unresolved, leaving the
individual focused on this stage and unable to move onto the next.

For example, individuals with oral fixations may have problems with drinking, smoking, eating,
or nail-biting.

How Fixations Develop

According to psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, children develop through a series of psychosexual
stages during which the id’s libidinal energies become focused on different areas of the body.
The Id and Libidinal Energies
The id, the only aspect of the mind thought to be present at birth, operates on the pleasure
principle on an unconscious level. Libidinal energies, otherwise known as the libido, are considered
biological and sexual drives and desires that are heavily influenced by the id. The id drives the libido,
seeking out the most pleasurable situations possible.

During the anal stage, for example, a child supposedly gains a sense of satisfaction and
accomplishment by controlling his or her bladder and bowel movements. So what does this have to do
with the development of a fixation?

Freud believed that the development of a healthy adult personality was the result of
successfully completing each of the psychosexual stages. At each point in development, children face a
conflict that must be resolved in order to move on successfully to the next stage. How this conflict is
resolved plays a role in the formation of adult personality.

Failing to successfully complete a stage, Freud suggested, would cause that person to remain
essentially “stuck.” In other words, they would become fixated at that point in development. Freud
also believed that fixations could result if a particular stage left a dominant impression on an
individual's personality.

Resolving the psychosexual conflicts requires a considerable amount of the libido’s energy. If a
great deal of this energy is expended at a particular point in development, the events of that stage may
ultimately leave a stronger impression on that individual’s personality.