Id, ego, and super-ego facts for kids
The Id, ego, and super-ego are ideas created by Sigmund Freud. They are three concepts used to explain the way the human mind works.
Freud describes the human mind as interaction of id, ego, super-ego. The ego, and to some extent the super-ego, is conscious or on the surface. The id remains unconscious. Together they make up the personality.
According to this model of the psyche, the id is the set of uncoordinated instinctual trends; the ego is the organized realistic part; and the super-ego plays the critical and moralising role.
The id, ego and super-ego are functions of the mind, not parts of the brain. They do not correspond one-to-one with actual structures of the kind dealt with by neuroscience.
Id
The id represents a constant in the personality as it is always present. The id is governed by the 'pleasure principle'.
Freud conceived the id as the unconscious source of all innate needs, emotional impulses and desires. The id acts driven by aggression (energy), it's "the dark, inaccessible part of our personality". It seems limited to analysis of dreams and neurotic symptoms, and can only be described in terms of its contrast with the ego. It has no organisation and no collective will: It only demands immediate gratification of its instincts according to the pleasure principle.
Developmentally, the id precedes the ego.
Ego
Originally, Freud used the word ego to mean the sense of self, but later expanded it to include psychic functions such as judgment, tolerance, reality testing, control, planning, defense, synthesis of information, intellectual functioning, and memory. The ego is the organizing principle upon which thoughts and interpretations of the world are based.
The ego is governed by the 'reality principle', or a practical approach to the world. It seeks to turn the id’s drive to behaviour which brings benefits in the long term rather than grief.
According to Freud, "the ego is that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world. ...The ego represents what may be called reason and common sense, in contrast to the id, which contains the passions... it is like a tug of war... with the difference that in the tug of war the teams fight against one another in equality, while the ego is against the much stronger 'id'." In fact, the ego is required to serve "three severe masters...the external world, the superego and the id." It seeks to find a balance between the natural drives of the id, the limitations imposed by reality, and the strictures of the superego. It is concerned with self-preservation: it strives to keep the id's instinctive needs within limits, adapted to reality and submissive to the superego.
Conscious awareness resides in the ego, although not all of the operations of the ego are conscious.
Super-Ego
The Super-ego aims for perfection and the ideal outcome. It comprises that part of the personality, mainly unconscious, which includes the individual's ego ideals, spiritual goals, and the psychic agency (commonly called "conscience") that criticises and prohibits his or her drives, fantasies, feelings, and actions.
- "The Super-ego can be thought of as a type of conscience that punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt."
The superego consists of two parts, the conscience and the ego-ideal. The conscience is the familiar metaphor of angel and devil on each shoulder. The conscience decides what course of action one should take. The ego-ideal is an idealized view of one's self. Comparisons are made between the ego-ideal and one's actual behavior. Both parts of the super-ego develop through experience with others or via social interactions. According to Freud, a strong super-ego serves to inhibit the biological instincts of the id, while a weak super-ego gives in to the id's urgings. Further, the levels of guilt in the two cases above will be high and low, respectively.
See also
In Spanish: Ello, yo y superyó para niños
