The Theory Of The Drive Theory

The epic poem, “The Iliad,” written by the Greek poet Homer, contains many occurrences of the psychologist Freud’s approach of the three systems of Superego, Id, and Ego. Superego, the little angel on one’s shoulder, is considered to be the voice of our moral compass (conscience) that speaks from the unconscious mind on the difference between real and ideal situations. It strives for perfection with tracking what we ought to behave like. Id, opposite to Superego, is the little devil on the other side of one’s shoulder. Its unconscious energy strives to satisfy the basic drives to survive, reproduce, and aggress. To balance these two systems, the Ego becomes the mediator and compromiser to keep both content. One’s Ego focuses on responses to the real world, stemming from the reality principle. It contains our partly conscious perceptions, thoughts, judgements, and memories.

Freud proposed the psychological structure of personality to include three systems called the id, the ego, and the superego. At birth, the id is the original system of personality and is ruled by the pleasure principle. It is driven towards satisfying instinctual needs. The ego can be described as a mediator between ones instincts and their surrounding environment. The ego is ruled by the reality principle, using realistic and logical thinking to formulate action plans for satisfying needs. The superego includes a person’s moral code and strives for perfection, not pleasure. Psychic energy is distributed between these three systems creating dynamics of personality. This psychic energy is what determines behavior (Day, 2008).

The ego is the mediator between the id and the circumstances of the external world to aid their interaction. The ego represents reason in contrast to the id. Freud called the ego ich, which translates to English as “I”. The ego follows the reality principal. The ego does not exist independently of the id. The ego exists to help the id, and is constantly striving to bring about satisfaction of the id’s instincts. If the ego fails to keep a balance with the id and superego, a person may have difficulty

The ego is the part of the mind that represents consciousness. It employs reason, common sense, and the power to delay immediate responses to external stimuli (Storr). When making a decision, the ego balances out both needs of the id and the superego. In Freud’s own words, “It performs that task by gaining control over the demands of the instincts, by deciding whether they are to be allowed satisfaction, by postponing that satisfaction or suppressing their excitations entirely,” (Freud). Being a stereotypical earnest

Freud strategized that the personality was composed of three elements; the id, ego, and superego. The id is the component of personality that is present from birth, and is exclusively unconscious. “According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality” (Cherry,1). On the other hand, the ego is the element of the personality that is responsible with reality. “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” (Cherry, 1). It

One major portion of Sigmund Freud’s perspective on psychology involves the personality structure of the id, ego, and

Superego – Develops around age 6. There are two parts; the ego ideal and the conscience. The ego ideal tells us what we want to be and makes us feel satisfaction when we achieve it. The conscience makes sure we don't do badly and makes us takes actions that benefit society. It makes us feel guilty when it is not followed.

Freud’s structural and topographical model of personality, revolves around the id, ego and superego (McLeod, 2008). As a newborn, I was born with my id which allowed me to get my basic needs met. As an infant, I would cry if I was hungry or tired or just wanted to be held, I did not think of anyone else. The second part of my personality started around when I was three years old, and according to Freud this is when I began to develop my ego. An example of this would be if I was hungry I would want to satisfy my id, but at the

The superego is a projection of the ego. It is the moral censoring agency; the part that makes moral judgments and the repository of conscience and pride. It brings reason, order and social acceptability to the otherwise uncontrolled and potentially harmful realm of biological impulses (Guerin 128-31).

Freud described humans as having three essential components that built personality. The three components were the id, the ego, and the superego. He described the id, as being what governed an infant’s drive to overcome their primitive biological desires. According to his theory infants had no other goal than to release the tension that built up when their

Freud’s structural model illustrates that within every individual there is tripartite structure consisting of the Id, Ego and Super Ego.

However, According to Freud, the super-ego exists as a way to level out the ego, and, in a way, keep it in check. Therefore, the super-ego is responsible for an individual’s conscience, or, their ability to feel guilt. Freud continues his explanation of these concepts by asserting the idea that the super-ego calls our attention to our own failures and misconducts, and attempts to assist us in learning from them in order to avoid making similar mistakes in the future. Furthermore, the conscience is the form in which the super-ego controls our actions and thoughts, and creates guilt within us. Therefore, the ego is the decision-making, acting part of an individual, while the super-ego acts as the ego’s voice of authority and control (Freud).

One advantage of Freud’s concept of the ego, id and superego in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour is that it gives a good overall description of development of the human psyche. It recognises the

Freud said that the Ego is the mediator between the Id and Superego and the outside world. For the Ego to do its job, it has to delay the desires of the Id until it is socially acceptable to give the Id the needs. So our conscious-driven Ego is a balance of the Id and Superego, evening out our primal needs

It is in this way that Freud described what he believed to be the conflict that occurs within the human mind, the conflict that dictates human action. His ideas, however, met and continue to meet with opposition from other thinkers. His ideas rule out the possibility that humans have total control of their