Describe the Structure of Personality as Freud Views it (ID, Ego, Superego), his Concept of Defense, and His Theory of Development
Sigmund Freud was one of the most influential and controversial psychologists the world has ever known. Many know Sigmund Freud for his obscene theories involving sexual impulses, but even with all of his obscenities Sigmund Freud was a truly remarkable man. One of his most famous ideas was personality structure.
Freud viewed our personality as the constant struggle between our aggressive, pleasure seeking impulses and our internalized social control. He believed that personality comes from our ability to achieve pleasure in a socially acceptable way without receiving punishment. During this conflict there are three systems that are all interacting: Id, ego, and superego.
The Id constantly strives to satisfy basic drives such as to survive, reproduce, and aggress. An example of this is when young people would rather go out and party, than spend the night at home to achieve academic success in the near future.
The next system in Freud's personality concept is ego. The ego develops after the Id. Instead of attempting to achieve pleasure by the easiest means, we try to achieve pleasure in a socially acceptable manor that will bring long term reward. If we did not have our ego we would pursuit all sexual and aggressive impulses.
Freud's last component in superego. Superego is believed to be developed around the age of four or five. This is the stage when our conscious begins to develop. At this stage we begin to not just look for the "good path" but we look for the "ideal path." Our superego strives to be perfect. Our superego is what produces our feelings of guilt and pride.
Another one of Frued's famous theories was on personality development. Freud believed that personality forms during the first few years of life. He theorized that children pass through a series of phsychosexual stages. During these years of development the id's focus is on the body's pleasure seeking areas called erogenous zones. Below is a chart of Freud's Psychosexual Stages.
Freud viewed our personality as the constant struggle between our aggressive, pleasure seeking impulses and our internalized social control. He believed that personality comes from our ability to achieve pleasure in a socially acceptable way without receiving punishment. During this conflict there are three systems that are all interacting: Id, ego, and superego.
The Id constantly strives to satisfy basic drives such as to survive, reproduce, and aggress. An example of this is when young people would rather go out and party, than spend the night at home to achieve academic success in the near future.
The next system in Freud's personality concept is ego. The ego develops after the Id. Instead of attempting to achieve pleasure by the easiest means, we try to achieve pleasure in a socially acceptable manor that will bring long term reward. If we did not have our ego we would pursuit all sexual and aggressive impulses.
Freud's last component in superego. Superego is believed to be developed around the age of four or five. This is the stage when our conscious begins to develop. At this stage we begin to not just look for the "good path" but we look for the "ideal path." Our superego strives to be perfect. Our superego is what produces our feelings of guilt and pride.
Another one of Frued's famous theories was on personality development. Freud believed that personality forms during the first few years of life. He theorized that children pass through a series of phsychosexual stages. During these years of development the id's focus is on the body's pleasure seeking areas called erogenous zones. Below is a chart of Freud's Psychosexual Stages.
The last of Frued's infamous theories I will go over is his ideas on our defense mechanisms. Frued believed that our our ego protects itself with defense mechanisms. According to Psychology Tenth Edition in Modules a defense mechanism are, "Tactics that reduce or redirect anxiety by distorting reality." All of these defense mechanism function unconsciously. One example is repression banishing anxiety arousing wishes and feelings. Below is a chart of the six defense mechanisms.
Below I have posted two links. The first is a short synopsis on defense mechanisms. I enjoy the description it provides in the second paragraph on how the unconscious mind plays into it. The second link is a summery on pyschosexual development. I like the part about pcychosexual energy or libido.
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