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Psychoanalytic theory of personality
Freud theory of personality
Sigmund Freud. Freud developed the psychoanalytic theory of personality development, which argued that personality is formed through conflicts among three fundamental structures of the human mind: the id, ego, and superego
Structures of the human mind
The id (or it)
The
id is the primitive and instinctive component of personality. It consists of
all the inherited (i.e. biological) components of personality present at birth,
including the sex (life) instinct – Eros (which contains the libido), and the
aggressive (death) instinct
The id is the impulsive (and unconscious)
part of our psyche which responds directly and immediately to the instincts.
The personality of the newborn child is
all id and only later does it develop an ego and super-ego.
The id remains infantile in it's
function throughout a persons life, and does not change with time or
experience, as it is not in touch with the external world. The id is not
affected by reality, logic or the everyday world, as it operates within the
unconscious part of the mind.
The id demands immediate
satisfaction and when this happens we experience pleasure, when it is denied we
experience ‘unpleasure’ or tension.
On the contrary, it operates on the
pleasure principle (Freud, 1920) which is the idea that every wishful impulse should
be satisfied immediately, regardless of the consequences.
The id engages in primary process
thinking, which is primitive, illogical, irrational, and fantasy oriented. This
form of process thinking has no comprehension of objective reality, and is selfish
and wishful in nature.
The Ego (or I)
The ego is 'that part of the id which has been modified by
the direct influence of the external world.'
The ego develops
in order to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real world. It
is the decision making component of personality. Ideally the ego works by
reason, whereas the id is chaotic and totally unreasonable.
The ego operates according to the
reality principle, working out realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands,
often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of
society. The ego considers social realities and norms, etiquette and rules in
deciding how to behave.
Like the id, the ego seeks pleasure
(i.e. tension reduction) and avoids pain, but unlike the id the ego is
concerned with devising a realistic strategy to obtain pleasure. The ego has no
concept of right or wrong; something is good simply if it achieves its end of
satisfying without causing harm to itself or to the id.
Often the ego is weak relative to the
headstrong id and the best the ego can do is stay on, pointing the id in the
right direction and claiming some credit at the end as if the action were its
own.
Freud made the analogy of the id being a horse while the ego is
the rider. The ego is 'like a man on
horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse.'
If the ego fails in its attempt to use
the reality principle, and anxiety is experienced, unconscious defence mechanisms are employed, to help ward off
unpleasant feelings (i.e. anxiety) or make good things feel better for the
individual.
The ego engages in secondary process
thinking, which is rational, realistic, and orientated towards problem solving.
If a plan of action does not work, then it is thought through again until a
solution is found. This is know as reality testing, and enables the person to
control their impulses and demonstrate self-control, via mastery of the ego.
An important feature of clinical and
social work is to enhance ego functioning and help the client test reality
through assisting the client to think through their options.
The Superego (or above I)
The superego incorporates the values and morals
of society which are learned from one's parents and others. It develops around
the age of 3 – 5 during the phallic stage of psychosexual
development.
The superego's
function is to control the id's impulses, especially those which society
forbids, such as sex and aggression. It also has the function of persuading the
ego to turn to moralistic goals rather than simply realistic ones and to strive
for perfection.
The superego
consists of two systems: The conscience and the ideal self. The conscience can
punish the ego through causing feelings of guilt. For example, if the ego gives
in to the id's demands, the superego may make the person feel bad through guilt.
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.
Behavior which falls short of the ideal
self may be punished by the superego through guilt. The super-ego can also
reward us through the ideal self when we behave ‘properly’ by making us feel
proud.
If a person’s ideal self is too high a
standard, then whatever the person does will represent failure. The ideal self
and conscience are largely determined in childhood from parental values and how you were
brought up.
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