Understanding the Self
repress it to show that we
Lesson 4: Psychological View of Self
 Psychoanalytical Theory of Self
Development (Sigmund Freud)
 Tripartite
- Freud’s single most enduring and
important idea was that the human
psyche (personality) has more than one
aspect.
- Freud’s personality theory (1923) saw
the psyche structured into three parts
(tripartite), the id, ego, and superego.
- These are systems, not parts of the
brain, or in any way physical.
 ID (Internal Desires)
- Part of the unconscious
 Contains all the urges and
impulses, including
what is called the
libido.
Libido - A kind of generalized
sexual energy that is used for
everything from survival
instincts to appreciation of art.
- Pleasure Principle, (Freud 1920)
 The idea that every wishful
impulse should be satisfied
immediately, regardless of the
consequences.
- Natural Sexual Drive
 The whole human species enjoy
jokes that involve sexuality.
 According to Freud, we have a
natural sexual drive that is a
part of our animal side and an
active part of the ID.
 We are always trying to
are acculturated.
 Ego
- It is the decision-making component of
personality.
- Ideally, the ego works by reason,
whereas the ID is chaotic and
unreasonable.
- Freud made the analogy of the ID being
a horse while the ego is the rider.
“Like a man on horseback, who has to
hold I check of the superior strength of
the horse.”
- Freud, 1923
 “That part of the ID which has
been modified by the direct
influence of the
external
world.”
- Mediator
 Between the unrealistic ID and the
external real word.
 Superego
- The ideal self and conscience are
largely determined in childhood
from parental values and how you
were brought up.
- Incorporates the values and morals
of society which are learned from
one’s parents and others.
- It develops around the age of 3-5
years during the phallic stage of
psychosexual development.
- The superego is a part of the
unconscious that is the voice of
conscience and the source of
selfcriticism.
- It also has the function of persuading - The ego and superego develop in
the ego to turn to moralistic goals order to exercise this control and
rather than simply realistic ones and to direct the need for gratification into
strive for perfection. socially acceptable channels.
- Being kind vs. Being right - Gratification centres in different
areas of the body at different
 The superego consists of two (2) systems: stages of growth, making the
conflict at each stage psychosexual.
 The conscience is our “inner
voice” that tells us when we
have done something wrong.
 The ideal self (or ego-ideal) is
an imaginary picture of how
you ought to be, and represents
career aspirations, how to treat
other people, and how to
behave as a member of society.

 Psychosexual Theory of Self

Development (Sigmund Freud)
- Sigmund Freud proposed that  Psychosocial stages of Development
personality development in childhood (Erik Erikson)
takes place during five (5) psychosexual
stages, which are the oral, anal, phallic,  8 Stages of Psychosocial
latency, and genital stages. Development
- These are called psychosexual stages
because each stage represents the
fixation of libido (roughly translated as
sexual drives or instincts) on a different
area of the body.

- As a person grows physically, certain

areas of their body become important
as sources of potential frustration
(erogenous zones), pleasure or both.
- Freud stressed that the first five (5)
years of life are crucial to the formation
of adult personality.
- The ID must be controlled in order to
satisfy social demands; this sets up a
conflict between frustrated wishes and  Erikson maintained that
social norms. personality develops in a
predetermined order
 through eight stages of
psychosocial development,
from infancy to adulthood.
 During each stage, the person
experiences a psychosocial
crisis which could have a
positive or negative outcome
for personality development.
 These crises are of a
psychosocial nature because they
involve psychological needs of
the individual (i.e., psycho)
conflicting with the needs of
society (i.e., social).
 Successful completion of each
stage results in a healthy
personality and the acquisition
of basic virtues.