Sigmund Freud (1923) divided the mind into three separate but interconnected structures; The ego, Id and the Super ego which his followers called the structural theory.
The three were not observable physical structures but theoretical models that helped explain our mental activities.
This was an expansion of his earlier topographic model of the mind that divided the mind into three layers; the conscious mind, Pre-conscious and Unconscious mind.
The Ego, ID and Superego Definition.
•The Id: The innermost core of personality that exists within the unconscious mind and acts as a source of the psychic energy. It is the most primitive part that encompasses our basic desires, instincts and impulses.
It has no contact with reality and functions in a totally irrational manner operating according to the pleasure principle ie; seeking immediate gratification or release, regardless of rational considerations or environmental realities. The ID is hence amoral in nature for it has no sense of right or wrong
Freud described it as “a chaos, a cauldron of seething excitations”
•The Ego: The Ego has a contact with reality and operates at a conscious level.
It represents reason and acts as a mediator. A mediator between the impulses of the ID and the moral constraints of the super ego. A mediator between the desires of the Id and the realities of the external world.
It operates according to the reality principle, striving to satify the Id’s urges in realistic and socially acceptable ways by testing reality to
decide when and under what conditions the Id can safely discharge it’s impulses and satisfy its needs, call it the Reality Manager.
For Instance; the ego would seek sexual gratification within a consenting relationship rather than allowing the pleasure principle of the Id to dictate an impulsive sexual assault on the first person who happened by. It considers social realities, etiquette , rules and norms before deciding how to behave.
In summary , the ego just like the Id seeks pleasure and avoids pain but unlike the Id has to devise a strategic and realistic mean to satisfy it’s wishes.
The Superego: This is like the judge or the moral compass mind with internalized societal norms, values, and ideals. All traditional values and ideals of family and societal instructions we have absorbed are also stored here.
It operates according to the morality principle and contains what’s right and wrong, moral and evil, what we should do or not do or who we should be and not be seeking to control the ID’s impulses by creating a tension within the ego. Failure to comply leads to punishment through guilt.
For the superego, moralistic goals are prioritized over realistic ones, regardless.
For instance; one deeply religious individual with an internalized idea of “Sex is a dirty thing” might experience intense guilt over a sexual activity even within marriage.
The superego replaces external control with self-control. Parental voices and instructions hence continue to affect a child as a representation through the superego. Sometimes internalized voices might manifest as inner critics. The “inner voice” that judges us when we do something wrong or evil is what we call the moral conscience.
Development of the Id, Ego and the Superego.
The ID is the first structure to develop. We can then conclude that the entire psyche of a child is entirely made up of the ID.
Imagine a young kid hitting his head on a wall, eating sand and dipping her hand in hot water.
Out of this forms the Ego which helps to balance the wishes and desires of the ID with reality.
The young kid now starts avoiding the hot water and hitting her head on the wall.
Later the superego, which is the moral arm of the psyche, develops last by the age of 3 to 6. This is at a time when the child starts to identify with the same-sex parent and is keen at following moral standards. The child’s starts to introject (absorb) parental rules ie; “You should do this” and “You should not do this.” They also absorb their voices about themselves which may later manifest as the inner critic and inner motivator.
The Horse and Rider on a Chariot Metaphor.
Freud used the analogy of the horse and the rider to explain his theory, a concept which has its roots from Greek philosophy, specifically Plato’s analogy of the soul, which attempted to explain the balance between emotions and reason.
To Freud, the id was like a horse while the ego is the rider that manages and guides the horse.
The ID compels us to move in several directions to satisfy it’s desires while the ego tries to guide it not to head to a wrong direction.
When the driver loses control (which it sometimes does), the uncontrollable horse leads the chariot to unwanted destination. An over domineering rider and overwhelmed horse might on the other hand leads to no movement due to lack of energy to move the chariot.
The working Between the Id, Supergo and the Ego.
The id declares it’s desires let’s say “I want”. The ego has to find a way to see what it can do to please the id. It’s practical choices might be restricted by the superego if the Id’s wishes conflict the internalized morals of the Superego eg ; “It evil” or “it’s wrong”.
The ego has to simultaneously try to persuade the id to accept the world’s limitations and also convince the Id to comply with the superego’s wishes.
With it’s role of compromising between the demands of the id, the constraints of the superego, and the demands of reality, let’s call it the “executive of the personality” that manages the storm within.
To Freud; The “id was quite amoral, the ego tries to be moral, but the superego can be hyper-moral and cruel.
Illustrations and Examples pf the Working between The Id, Ego and Supergo.
An example of a pure Id can be illustrated by a young child who does everything without reinstraint like eating soil, hitting head on a wall , dipping hand in water etc.
An Example of an ID and Ego can be illustrated by the same child who, after developing the ego, feels hunger but there is no food and hence choose to delay his gratification for they can’t eat soil that’s available.
An example of the Superego, ego and Id can be illustrated by one who has had his boundary violated and the desire to lash out is met with a resistance from the superego which reminds the ego of their parent’s voice of being a good girl.
The ego mediates between the id’s cravings and the superego’s moral standards by maintaining a psychological balance between the conflicting desires hence making the person to avoid the conflict.
Ego defense mechanisms
Failure by the ego to employ the reality principle might cause uncomfortable feelings such as anxiety hence forcing it to employ unconscious defense mechanisms to minimize or ward off the feelings of discomfort.
For instance; The ego might cover up uncomfortable emotions or feelings produced by the superego through rationalization eg; An individual constantly making excuses about his failure might be covering up feelings of shame.
Sometimes the ego manages unacceptable impulses from the ID by projecting it on others eg; one projecting hostility onto others when in fact it’s their own anger being externalized.
Relationship between Freud’s Theory to Modern Neuroscience.
Modern neuroscientists propose a different model separate from Freud’s structural theory though somehow interlinked. The activities of the ego, Id and the superego have been associated with various parts of the Brain.
For Instance;
The ID’s impulsive nature has been liked to the left side of the limbic system which contains parts such as the amygdala and Hypothalamus. The amygdala processes emotions such as fear, pleasure & anger and responds to threats while the hypothalamus regulates basic functions like hunger, thirst, temperature, and sleep
The ego functions are likened to the frontal lobes which contains the prefrontal cortex, a part involved in higher level thinking, planning, and decision making and also perfoms functions such as Impulse control and emotional regulation
The superego with it’s judgemental role and can also be linked to the frontal lobe.
The Demonstration above is just an attempt to explain the close link modern neuroscience has with Freud’s work and might not be a practical integration.
Freud’s superego was an entirely new concept, but his concept of the ego had a far more immense effect on psychoanalysis .
The ego balancing role of the conflicting demands of reality, the id, and the superego contributed to the beginning of ego psychology, the branch of psychoanalytic theory that studied how the ego develops mechanisms for coping with conflicts. Among the pioneers of this approach was Freud’s own Daughter who developed the concept of Ego’s defense mechanisms.
References
1. Boag, S. (2014). Ego, Drives, and the Dynamics of Internal Objects. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 666.
2. Anna Freud, (1936). The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense. International Universities Press, Inc.
3. Sigmund Freud, (1920). Beyond the pleasure principle. SE, 18: 1-64.
4. Sigmund Freud,. (1923). The ego and the id. SE, 19: 1-66.