Ego Depletion: The Strength Model

Ego’s job is to satisfy id’ impulses and not offending the morals of the superego while also taking into consideration the reality of the situation. Whenever the ego is overwhelmed by either the ID or the superego, it employs ego-defense mechanisms.

Psychological egoism is the interpretation that humans are always inspired by self-interest, even in what seem to be acts of altruism. It claims that, when people choose to help others, they do so ultimately because of the personal benefits that they themselves expect to obtain, directly or indirectly, from doing so. Psychological egoism, which was widely recognized by psychologists and philosophers states that all human actions are motivated by selfish needs to benefit themselves. According to psychological egoists true altruism does not exist because the consequence of such an act leads to an increase in personal happiness. However, Joel Feinberg does not agree with that theory and in his essay he disagreed with the thesis that altruism

Implicit egotism is a tendency for people to be attracted to places, things, and other people that are like them. This tendency is caused by unconscious associations between the self and an object, person, or place (Pelham, Carvallo, & Jones, 2005). Previous studies done by Kocan et.al (2009) and Pelham et.al (2003) validate the concept of implicit egotism and rule out any alternate explanation for its effects. A study done by Jones et al. (2002) distinguishes implicit egotism from other similar concepts such as the mere exposure effect.

     The descriptive claim made by Psychological Egoists is that humans, by nature, are motivated only by self-interest. Any act, no matter how altruistic it may seem on the outside is actually only a disguise for a selfish desire such as recognition, avoiding guilt, reward or sense of personal ‘goodness’ or morality. For example, Mother Teresa is just using the poor for her own long-term spiritual gain. Being a universal claim, it could falter with a single counterexample. And being that I believe this claim to be bunk I will tell you why!

Psychological egoism is the view that people are always selfish. When was the last time you did a good deed? Did you do it for its own sake, or for your own? The egoist says that all of us are necessarily self-regarding. I shall argue that this view is incorrect.

Psychological egoism is the view that all persons, without exception, seek their own self-interest. I am going to argue against this and I will also be providing two reasons as to why I feel this way. Pretty much every human action, its main cause is a selfish act. Even when acts are ethical on the surface are pretty much motivated by selfishness. Psychological Egoism is a theory that rather than suggesting, as ethical or rational egoism does, how people ought to live. It suggests how people actually go about their lives.

According to the psychoanalytic perspective, people move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations. How these conflicts are resolved determines the person’s ability to learn, to get along with others, and cope with anxiety. Erik Erikson has been a very influential contributor to the psychoanalytic perspective (Berk, 2010). Erikson proposed that an individual moves through a series of stages which resolve in either positive or negative outcomes and determine healthy or maladaptive behavior. (Berk, 2010).

Systems theory is where human behaviors are looked at individually. This system is helpful in creating an effective system which looks at the individual’s needs, rewards, expectations and attributes of their current life situation. This system can be composed of families, couples, or just one individual but directly lets the individuals get involved in the process of fixing the problem (Kirst-Ashman, Zastrow p. 184.) Strengths-based perspective is what it sounds like. This perspective is about finding the individuals strengths, and what they are passionate about.

.Depending on a person’s thoughts and behaviors that’s how their emotional reflexes will react to certain situations. The brain can’t do better, if it doesn’t know any better. “Your brain does not distinguish whether the action is beneficial or destructive; it just responds to how you behave and then generates strong impulses, thoughts, desires, cravings, and urges that compel you to perpetuate your habit, whatever it may be” (Schwartz 1). Your brain can often take power over you, if you let it, but thankfully these habits can be overcome by replacing them by modifying one’s lifestyle. It might seem like a lot, and it might seem like there isn’t any process being made, but slowly but surely that’s the way to recovery. A person has the power to change their brain and to make their life as great as they want it to be. Certain situations in a person’s life might make a person lose self-esteem, and even make a person turn to drugs and alcohol for

Psychological egoism is the view that everyone always acts selfishly. It describes human nature as being wholly self-centered and self-motivated. Psychological egoism is different from ethical egoism in their “direction of fit” to the world. Psychological ego-ism is a factual theory. It aims to fit the world. In the world is not how psychological ego-ism says it is because someone acts unselfishly, then something is wrong with psycho-logical egoism. In my opinion this argument is completely wrong and unsound.

I chose the Ego Integrity vs Despair stage. The client at this stage is focusing on the meaning of life and the place of death, and that client in that stage would face issues like psychosocial development. The Ego integrity versus despair stage begins as the aging adult begins to challenge the problem of his or her mortality. The beginning of this stage is often generated by life events such as retirement, the loss of a spouse, the loss of friends and acquaintances, facing a terminal illness and other changes to major roles in life. They would be discussing how successful they were younger in life because during this period, people reflect back on the life they have lived and come away with either a sense of fulfillment from a life well lived

Aristotle once formed a compelling viewpoint, stating in his discussion on self-mastery that many individuals choose to have a weakness of will. In other words, they know what is best for them, but still choose to do something else. In an experiment done by Walter Michel, many of the individuals in the experiment have proven to make a rational decision to not do something that their basic instincts were pushing them to do. Aristotle’s engrossing point of view has shown that willpower can be achieved, and make the impossible things possible. Based on my own experience, I had not thought about delaying gratification or self-control. Typically, I try to make decisions to act in ways that will benefit me, although sometimes I slip into a moment of weakness. When the Oreo was placed on my desk, my basic instinct was that I was hungry. Even though I knew that I could receive another Oreo, if I waited until the end of class to eat it, I had slipped into a instant of frailty and eventually, just succumbed to it. I have found that this sense of self-control has been an issue with me throughout school,

In addition to the outward signs of clients’ resistance to therapy, there are many other defense mechanisms that might also stand in the way of behavioral remediation interventions as well. A common sign of resistance that is often overlooked in the context of psychotherapy, for example, is the repetitive misinterpretation of the therapist’s interpretation and communication of the individual’s unconscious anxieties and/or conflicts (Newman, 2002). The conceptualization of this miscommunication was epitomized in the subject’s ego defense mechanisms, which came out in the form of both projection and reaction formations, and more specifically with regard to his expressive self-deprecation and self-defeating behaviors, poor emotional regulation, locus of control and impulse control issues, and the possible deficiency in the construction of the subject’s self-esteem and

The theory of psychological egoism is indeed plausible. The meaning of plausible in the context of this paper refers to the validity or the conceivability of the theory in question, to explain the nature and motivation of human behavior (Hinman, 2007). Human actions are motivated by the satisfaction obtained after completing a task that they are involved in. For example, Mother Teresa was satisfied by her benevolent actions and activities that she spent her life doing. As Hinman (2007) points out, she was likely to reduce in activity if she experienced any dissatisfaction in her endeavors.

Chronologically in the developmental stages for Erikson this patient would fall in stage 8, ego integrity versus despair. This stage is for people over the age of 65. During this stage people should show acceptance for their life, worth, and eventual death (Wilkinson, Treas, Barnett & Smith, 2016, pp. 169). The ego integrity part of this stage is finding satisfaction with their life and identifying their place in the life cycle. The despair part of the stage includes having a sense of loss, and discomfort with aging and a fear of death (Wilkinson, 2016, p. 169).