Partly working on a conscious level, the superego predominantly operates on the unconscious level. It works to control or restrain the impulses, feelings, actions, and fantasies of the id. The superego evolves from the id, emerging between 3 – 5 years of age, as family and societal ideals and values are internalized. Let’s finish up by looking at the superego: However, the persistent use of or overuse of defense mechanisms may lead to dysfunctional behavior that can adversely affect the physical and/or mental health of the individual and become intolerable and harmful or unsafe to the people around him or her. The use of defense mechanisms is both normal and healthy, and, according to Freud, necessary to effectively function in everyday life. Repression – blocking a painful memory or unacceptable impulse.Projection – attributing undesired impulses, thoughts, or feelings, onto others.Displacement – satisfying an impulse with a substitute.Sublimation – converting unacceptable behavior to a more acceptable form.Rationalization – justifying behavior with a socially acceptable reason as opposed to the real reason.There are many different defense mechanisms used by the ego. It also helps mitigate the threat to the individual’s self-esteem from the demands of the superego and reality. In an attempt to maintain control over the id, the ego employs defense mechanisms, which are automatic, unconscious mental strategies or coping styles, utilized to reduce the anxiety and/or guilt associated with the situation or unresolved conflict, and protect the person from their own dangerous impulses, unacceptable behavior, and unpleasant thoughts or feelings. With unresolved conflict or an imbalance among the id, superego, and reality, anxiety and/or psychological disorders occur. According to Freud, a healthy personality results when the ego maintains this balance. How the ego achieves balance and resolves the conflict between the id and the superego defines how we behave in any given situation and cope with reality. The dynamic interaction of these three structures produces tension and conflict. The ego mediates and balances the opposing motives and drives of the id and superego with reality. It also operates on the reality principle, striving to satisfy the demands and urges of the id, while avoiding any negative consequences. It works to modulate the desires and impulses of the id, in relation to the demands of the superego and reality. It begins to emerge between the ages of 1 and 2, and operates on all three levels of consciousness, mostly in the conscious mind.

Now let’s look at the ego’s personality components: It works to satisfy basic urges, bodily needs, wants, and desires, including those of a sexual or aggressive nature, and it operates on the pleasure principle, seeking instant satisfaction. It is the earliest part of the personality to emerge and is the most primitive component. The id is present at birth and is entirely unconscious. Let’s take a look at the personality components of the id: As a manifestation of personality, behavior (a person’s thoughts, actions, and reactions) is the product of the interactions of these three components. Each of these separate but interacting agencies influence and are influenced in return by the other two elements to uniquely contribute to the development of a person’s personality. Based on his observations, Freud proposed that the human psyche is extremely complex and is divided into three distinct but interrelated components or agencies–the id, ego, and superego. One of the single most important concepts postulated by Sigmund Freud to explain the working of the human mind (psyche) is his structural theory of human personality. Hi, and welcome to this video on the interaction of the id and ego!

The id the ego and the superego