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10 Id, Ego & Superego Examples (Real-Life Scenarios)

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

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The concepts of the id, ego, and superego originate from Sigmund Freud’s structural model of the psyche, proposed in the early 20th century, which divides the mind into three interacting agents to explain human behavior and the dynamics of the personality.

According to Freud’s model of the human psyche, the mind’s three distinct components are:

• The id is the most primitive part of the mind, containing innate impulses and desires, and operates according to the pleasure principle (Samuels & Samuels, 2019), impulsively seeking immediate gratification regardless of external reality or moral considerations. It is entirely unconscious (Green, 2019) and houses basic drives such as hunger, thirst, and libido.
• The ego develops to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real world, operating according to the reality principle (Civitarese, 2018), which seeks to satisfy the desires of the id in a realistic and socially appropriate manner. It is partly conscious and unconscious, and it employs defense mechanisms to prevent the individual from becoming overwhelmed by anxiety.
• The superego is the moralistic component of the psyche, representing the internalized ideals, norms, values and morals of society, and strives for perfection by judging the actions and thoughts of the ego and inducing feelings of guilt or pride. According to Freud, it operates on the morality principle and consists of two subsystems: the conscience, which punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt, and the ego-ideal, which rewards good behavior with feelings of pride and self-satisfaction (Kernberg, 2016; Rennison, 2015).

Each of the three parts of the psyche develops at different times and is governed by different principles, as explained below:

Id, Ego, And Superego Examples

1. a kid in the candy store.

Scenario: A child is in a grocery store with their parent, and they pass by the candy aisle. The child sees a chocolate bar that they really want.

• Role of Id: The id, seeking immediate gratification, urges the child to grab the chocolate bar and eat it right away, without any consideration for the consequences or the fact that it hasn’t been paid for.
• Role of Ego: The ego, understanding the reality of the situation, recognizes that the child cannot just take the chocolate bar without paying. It prompts the child to ask the parent if they can buy the chocolate for them, attempting to satisfy the id’s desire in a socially acceptable and realistic manner.
• Role of Superego: The superego, representing the child’s internalized moral standards, reminds the child that stealing is wrong and that they should respect the rules of the store and the wishes of their parent. If the parent says no, the superego would encourage the child to accept the decision gracefully, reinforcing the value of respecting authority and behaving appropriately.

2. Finding A Lost Wallet

Scenario: A student is in a classroom and finds a forgotten wallet on the floor, filled with money.

• Role of Id: The id, driven by immediate desires, tempts the student to take the money from the wallet for personal gain, without considering the consequences or ethical implications of such an action.
• Role of Ego: The ego, working on the reality principle, assesses the situation and understands that taking someone else’s money is both morally wrong and punishable. It guides the student to consider the consequences and look for a more acceptable solution, such as finding the owner or turning the wallet into the lost and found.
• Role of Superego: The superego, embodying the student’s moral compass and societal norms, reinforces the idea that stealing is wrong and that the right thing to do is to return the wallet to its rightful owner. It encourages feelings of empathy and responsibility, prompting the student to imagine how they would feel if they lost their wallet and someone else found it.

3. Desiring Someone Else’s Possessions

Scenario: A young girl is playing in a park and sees another child playing with a colorful, attractive toy balloon. She desires to have the balloon for herself.

• Role of Id: The id, focused on immediate gratification and possessing no consideration for morality or social rules, urges the girl to snatch the balloon from the other child, aiming to satisfy her desire without regard for the other child’s feelings.
• Role of Ego: The ego, operating under the reality principle, recognizes that simply taking the balloon is not socially acceptable and could result in negative consequences. It encourages the girl to either ask the other child if she can have a turn playing with the balloon or ask her parents to buy one for her, seeking a realistic and socially appropriate way to satisfy the desire.
• Role of Superego: The superego, representing internalized values and societal norms, reminds the girl that it is wrong to take things from others without permission and encourages sharing and politeness. It promotes empathy, suggesting that the girl consider how she would feel if someone took her belongings, and encourages her to behave in a way that is considerate and respectful of others.

4. Obeying Signs At The Zoo

Scenario: A boy is at a petting zoo and sees a sign that says “Do Not Feed the Animals,” but he has some snacks in his pocket and wants to feed the cute goats.

• Role of Id: The id, seeking immediate pleasure and having no regard for rules, encourages the boy to feed the goats right away to experience the joy of interacting with them more closely.
• Role of Ego: The ego, recognizing the need to adhere to rules and consider the well-being of the animals, reminds the boy that feeding the animals might be harmful to them and against the zoo’s policies. It encourages him to enjoy watching the animals and following the guidelines set by the petting zoo.
• Role of Superego: The superego reinforces the importance of following rules and respecting the well-being of the animals. It encourages the boy to understand that the rules are in place for a reason and that he should act responsibly and ethically.

5. Handling Group Work Scenarios

Scenario: A girl is working on a group project for school, and she thinks her idea is the best, but her friend has a different idea.

• Role of Id: The id, driven by self-interest and basic urges, encourages the girl to insist on her own idea and disregard her friend’s input, aiming for personal gratification and dominance in the situation.
• Role of Ego: The ego, striving for a realistic and harmonious solution, encourages the girl to listen to her friend’s idea, consider its merits, and work towards a compromise that incorporates the best elements of both ideas and maintains group harmony.
• Role of Superego: The superego, representing ethical values and societal norms, reminds the girl of the importance of cooperation, respect for others’ opinions, and fairness. It encourages her to be considerate, open-minded, and work collaboratively with her friend for the common good of the group project.

6. Seeking A Solution At The Library

Scenario: A child is in a library and finds a book that they have been wanting to read, but it’s time to leave, and they haven’t brought their library card to check it out.

• Role of Id: The id, seeking immediate gratification, tempts the child to sneak the book out of the library without checking it out, disregarding the rules and potential consequences.
• Role of Ego: The ego, aiming to find a balance between desire and reality, suggests that the child should ask the librarian if they can hold the book until they can return with their library card, or make a note of the book’s title to borrow it next time.
• Role of Superego: The superego reinforces the idea that stealing is wrong and encourages the child to follow the library’s rules and procedures, fostering a sense of responsibility and respect for community resources.

7. Helpfulness And Altruism

Scenario: A student sees a classmate struggling with their homework and considers whether to offer help, even though it might mean spending less time on their own activities.

• Role of Id: The id, focused on self-interest and immediate pleasure, encourages the student to ignore the classmate’s struggle and prioritize their own activities and enjoyment.
• Role of Ego: The ego, seeking a socially acceptable and realistic solution, prompts the student to assess how much time they can afford to spend helping the classmate while still managing their own responsibilities, aiming for a balance between altruism and self-care.
• Role of Superego: The superego, representing internalized moral values, encourages the student to empathize with the classmate and offer assistance, emphasizing the virtues of kindness, cooperation, and community support.

8. Only Taking Your Fair Share

Scenario: A child is at a friend’s birthday party and sees a big bowl of candy. The child wants to take a handful of candy, but the party host has asked everyone to take only one piece each.

• Role of Id: The id, driven by immediate desires and pleasure, urges the child to grab a handful of candy, focusing solely on the child’s own wants without regard for rules or fairness to others.
• Role of Ego: The ego, working to help the child maintain self-control, reminds the child of the host’s rule and the need to be polite and considerate, suggesting taking just one piece of candy now and perhaps asking later if it’s okay to have more.
• Role of Superego: The superego reinforces the importance of following rules, being respectful to the host, and showing fairness and consideration to all the other children at the party.

9. What To Do About A Lost Dog

Scenario: A student finds a lost dog on the way home from school and wonders whether to ignore it, bring it home, or find the owner.

• Role of Id: The id makes the child impulsive and encourages them to either bring the dog home for personal enjoyment or ignore it to avoid responsibility and continue with their own plans.
• Role of Ego: The ego, balancing between the id and superego, desires and reality, suggests that the student should check if the dog has any identification tags and, if possible, contact the owner or take the dog to a local shelter, considering both the well-being of the dog and the student’s own responsibilities.
• Role of Superego: The superego encourages the student to act responsibly and empathetically, emphasizing the importance of helping others (including animals) and doing the right thing by trying to reunite the lost dog with its owner.

10. Sharing Toys

Scenario: A child is building a block tower with a younger sibling and wants to use all the best pieces to make their side of the tower look cooler.

• Role of Id: The id, focused on self-gratification and dominance, urges the child to take all the best blocks without considering the younger sibling’s feelings or the value of sharing.
• Role of Ego: The ego, seeking a balanced and harmonious solution, encourages the child to share the blocks equally with the younger sibling, ensuring both can enjoy the activity and create something they are proud of.
• Role of Superego: The superego, representing internalized ethical principles, reinforces the values of sharing, fairness, and kindness, reminding the child to be considerate of the younger sibling’s feelings and the importance of playing together cooperatively.

More about Sigmund Freud and his Theory of Personality

Beyond the foundational concepts of the id, ego, and superego, Freud’s theory of personality also delves into the stages of psychosexual development, which he posited as critical to the formation of adult personality (Kernberg, 2016; Rennison, 2015 ) .

These stages – oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital – each focus on a different erogenous zone and present unique conflicts that individuals must resolve to ensure healthy personality development.

For instance, during the phallic stage, Freud theorized the occurrence of the Oedipus and Electra complexes, where children experience unconscious feelings of desire for the opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the same-sex parent. Successfully navigating these stages and resolving the associated conflicts, Freud believed, was essential for the development of a well-balanced personality.

Furthermore, Freud’s psychoanalytic theory introduced the concept of defense mechanisms (Bowins, 2004; Di Giuseppe & Perry, 2021), which Freud called the strategies employed by the ego to protect the individual from anxiety-arousing thoughts and feelings.

These mechanisms, including repression , denial, projection , and rationalization, operate unconsciously and distort reality to make it less threatening. For example, repression involves pushing distressing thoughts into the unconscious mind, while projection attributes one’s unacceptable feelings to others.

Understanding these defense mechanisms is crucial as they reveal how individuals cope with internal conflicts and external stressors, providing deeper insights into the complexities of human behavior and the intricacies of Freud’s theory of personality (Kernberg, 2016; Rennison, 2015).

Read Next: Learn About the Freudian Slip

Bowins, B. (2004). Psychological defense mechanisms: A New Perspective.  American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 64 , 1-26.

Civitarese, G. (2018). Where does the reality principle begin? The work of margins in Freud’s “Formulations on the two principles of mental functioning”. In  On Freud’s”Formulations on the Two Principles of Mental Functioning”  (pp. 105-125). Routledge.

Di Giuseppe, M., & Perry, J. C. (2021). The hierarchy of defense mechanisms: Assessing defensive functioning with the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales Q-Sort.  Frontiers in Psychology ,  12 , 718440.

Freud, S. (1961). The Ego and the Id. In J. Strachey (Ed. and Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 19, pp. 3-66). Hogarth Press. (Original work published 1923)

Freud, S. (2012).  The basic writings of Sigmund Freud . Modern library.

Green, C. D. (2019). Where did Freud’s iceberg metaphor of mind come from?  History of Psychology ,  22 (4), 369b.

Kernberg, O. F. (2016). The Superego, the Ego, and the Id in the Psychoanalytic Conceptual System. Psychodynamic Psychiatry, 44(3), 523–534.

Rennison, N. (2015).  Freud and psychoanalysis: Everything you need to know about id, ego, super-ego and more . Oldcastle books.

Samuels, R., & Samuels, R. (2019). The pleasure principle and the death drive.  Freud for the Twenty-First Century: The Science of Everyday Life , 17-25. doi:  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24382-1_3

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Sigmund Freud’s The Ego and the Id

Freud died 80 years ago this week. In this “Virtual Roundtable,” three scholars debate the legacy of his 1923 text.

Sigmund Freud died 80 years ago this week, and his 1923 study, The Ego and the Id , which introduced many of the foundational concepts of psychoanalysis, entered the public domain earlier this year. Freud’s ideas have long been absorbed by popular culture, but what role do they continue to play in the academy, in the clinical profession, and in everyday life? To answer those questions, this roundtable discussion—curated by Public Books and JSTOR Daily —asks scholars about the legacy of The Ego and the Id in the 21st century.

• Elizabeth Lunbeck: Pity the Poor Ego! • Amber Jamilla Musser: The Sunken Place: Race, Racism, and Freud • Todd McGowan: The Superego or the Id

Pity the Poor Ego!

Elizabeth Lunbeck

It would be hard to overestimate the significance of Freud’s The Ego and the Id for psychoanalytic theory and practice. This landmark essay has also enjoyed a robust extra-analytic life, giving the rest of us both a useful terminology and a readily apprehended model of the mind’s workings. The ego, id, and superego (the last two terms made their debut in The Ego and the Id ) are now inescapably part of popular culture and learned discourse, political commentary and everyday talk.

Type “id ego superego” into a Google search box and you’re likely to be directed to sites offering to explain the terms “for dummies”—a measure of the terms’ ubiquity if not intelligibility. You might also come upon images of The Simpsons: Homer representing the id (motivated by pleasure, characterized by unbridled desire), Marge the ego (controlled, beholden to reality), and Lisa the superego (the family’s dour conscience), all of which need little explanation, so intuitively on target do they seem.

If you add “politics” to the search string, you’ll find sites advancing the argument that Donald Trump’s success is premised on his speaking to our collective id, our desires to be free of the punishing strictures of law and morality and to grab whatever we please—“a flailing tantrum of fleshly energy.” Barack Obama in this scheme occupies the position of benign superego: incorruptible, cautious, and given to moralizing, the embodiment of our highest ideas and values but, in the end, not much fun. You’ll also glean from Google that Trump’s ego is fragile and needy but also immense and raging, its state—small or large?—a dire threat to the nation’s stability and security.

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In these examples, the ego is used in two distinct, though not wholly contradictory, ways. With The Simpsons , the ego appears as an agency that strives to mediate between the id and superego. When we speak of Trump’s fragile ego, the term is being used somewhat differently, to refer to the entirety of the self, or the whole person. When we say of someone that their ego is too big, we are criticizing their being and self-presentation, not their (presumably) weak superego.

The idea of the ego as agency is routinely considered more analytically rigorous and thus more “Freudian” than the ego-as-self, yet both interpretations of the ego are found not only in popular culture, but also—perhaps surprisingly—in Freud. Further, I would argue that the second of these Freudian conceptualizations, premised on feelings, is more consonant with a distinctively American construal of the self than are the abstractions of ego psychology. Understanding why this is so necessitates a look at the post-Freud history of the ego in America—in particular at the attempts of some psychoanalysts to clear up ambiguities in Freud’s texts, attempts that luckily for us met with only mixed success.

As Freud proposed in The Ego and the Id , three agencies of the mind jostle for supremacy: the ego strives for mastery over both id and superego, an ongoing and often fruitless task in the face of the id’s wild passions and demands for satisfaction, on the one hand, and the superego’s crushing, even authoritarian, demands for submission to its dictates, on the other. The work of psychoanalysis was “to strengthen the ego”; as Freud famously put it 10 years later, “where id was, there ego shall be.”

The Freudian ego sought to harmonize relations among the mind’s agencies. It had “important functions,” but when it came to their exercise it was weak, its position, in Freud’s words, “like that of a constitutional monarch, without whose sanction no law can be passed but who hesitates long before imposing his veto on any measure put forward by Parliament.” Elsewhere in the essay, the ego vis-à-vis the id was no monarch but a commoner, “a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse … obliged to guide it where it wants to go.” Submitting to the id, the ego-as-rider could at least retain the illusion of sovereignty. The superego would brook no similar fantasy in the erstwhile royal, instead establishing “an agency within him” to monitor his desires for aggression, “like a garrison in a conquered city.” Pity the poor ego!

It could be argued that the Viennese émigré psychoanalysts who took over the American analytic establishment in the postwar years did precisely that. They amplified this Freudian ego’s powers of mastery while downplaying its conflicts with the id and superego. They formulated a distinctively optimistic and melioristic school of analytic thought, “ego psychology,” in which the ego was ideally mature and autonomous, a smoothly operating agency of mind oriented toward adaptation with the external environment. More than a few commentators have argued that ego psychology’s celebration of compliance and de-emphasis of conflict fit perfectly with the demands of the postwar corporate state as well as with the prevailing stress on conformity and fitting in. Think here of William H. Whyte’s The Organization Man , published in 1956, or of David Riesman’s The Lonely Crowd , from 1950, best sellers that were read as laments for a lost golden age of individualism and autonomy.

Among the professed achievements of the mid-century ego psychologists was clearing up Freud’s productive ambiguity around the term’s meanings; ego would henceforth refer to the agency’s regulatory and adaptive functions, not to the person or the self. Consider that the doyen of ego psychology, Heinz Hartmann, gently chided Freud for sometimes using “the term ego in more than one sense, and not always in the sense in which it was best defined.”

Ego psychologists’ American hegemony was premised on their claim to being Freud’s most loyal heirs; The Ego and the Id ranked high among their school’s foundational texts. Freud’s text, however, supports a conceptualization of the ego not only as an agency of mind (their reading) but also as an experienced sense of self. In it, Freud had intriguingly referred to the ego as “first and foremost a body-ego,” explaining that it “is ultimately derived from bodily sensations.”

Ignored by the ego psychologists, Freud’s statement was taken up in the 1920s and 1930s by, among others, the Viennese analyst Paul Federn, who coined the term “ego feeling” to capture his contention that the ego was best construed as referring to our subjective experience of ourselves, our sense of existing as a person or self. He argued that the ego should be conceived of in terms of experience, not conceptualized as a mental abstraction. Ego feeling, he explained in 1928, was “the sensation, constantly present, of one’s own person—the ego’s perception of itself.” Federn was a phenomenologist, implicitly critiquing Freud and his heirs for favoring systematizing over felt experience while at the same time fashioning himself a follower, not an independent thinker. Marginalization has been the price of his fealty, as he and his insights have been largely overlooked in the analytic canon.

When we talk of the American ego, we are more likely than not speaking Federn-ese. Federn appreciated the evanescence of moods and the complexity of our self-experiences. Talk of our “inner resources” and equanimity, of the necessity of egoism and its compatibility with altruism, of commonplace fantasies of “love, greatness, and ambition” runs through his writings. Even the analytic session is likely focused more manifestly on the “goals of self-preservation, of enrichment, of self-assertion, of social achievements for others, of gaining friends and adherents, up to the phantasy of leadership and discipleship” than on ensuring the ego’s supremacy over the id and superego.

The Ego and the Id supports such a reading of the ego as experiencing self, the individual possessed of knowledge of her bodily and mental “selfsameness and continuity in time.” Federn’s “ego feeling” is also compatible with 1950s vernacular invocations of the “real self” as well as with the sense of identity that Erik Erikson defined in terms of the feelings individuals have of themselves as living, experiencing persons, the authentic self that would become the holy grail for so many Americans in the 1960s and beyond. Erikson, also an ego psychologist but banished from the mainstream of analysis for his focus on the experiential dimension of the self, would capture this same sensibility under the rubric of identity. His delineation of the term identity to refer to a subjective sense of self, taken up overnight within and beyond psychoanalysis, arguably did more to ensure the survival of the discipline in the United States than did the all the labors of Freud’s most dutiful followers.

Thus, while Google may give us images (including cartoons) of a precisely divvied-up Freudian mind, it is the holistic ego-as-self that is as much the subject of most of our everyday therapeutic, analytically inflected talk. This ego-as-self is less readily represented pictorially than its integrated counterpart but nonetheless central to our ways of conveying our experience of ourselves and of others. It is as authentically psychoanalytic as its linguistic double, neither a corruption of Freud’s intentions nor an import from the gauzy reaches of humanistic psychology. When we invoke Trump’s outsized and easily bruised ego, for example, we are calling on this dimension of the term, referring to his sense of self—at once inflated and fragile. Federn has been forgotten, but his feelings-centered analytic sensibility lives on. It may be all the more relevant today, when, as many have observed, our feelings are no longer sequestered from reason and objectivity but, instead, instrumentally mobilized as the coin of the populist realm.

Jump to: Elizabeth Lunbeck , Amber Jamilla Musser , Todd McGowan

The Sunken Place: Race, Racism, and Freud

Amber Jamilla Musser

In a tense scene from the 2017 film Get Out , Missy (Catherine Keener) finds her daughter’s boyfriend, Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), sneaking a cigarette outside and invites him into the sitting room, which also functions as a home office for her therapy clients. Chris, a black photographer, has just met his white girlfriend, Rose’s, liberal family, including her mother, Missy, for the first time. As the two sit across from one another, Missy asks Chris about his childhood, her spoon repeatedly striking the inside of a teacup, and Chris, eyes watering uncontrollably, begins to sink deep into the “sunken place.” As his present surroundings shift out of view, he flails and falls through a large black void, before eventually waking in his own bed, uncertain as to what’s taken place. The therapy office setting is worth noting, for while what follows this early hypnosis scene is a horror-comedy about racism, psychoanalytic ideas of the unconscious help illuminate race relations in the film and beyond.

In the film, the “sunken place” refers to a fugue state that subdues the black characters so that (spoiler alert) the brains of the highest white bidder can be transplanted into their bodies. While this large black void is the product of director Jordan Peele’s imagination, the “sunken place” has culturally come to signify a pernicious aspect of racialization; namely, the nonwhite overidentification with whiteness. Recent memes make this connection clear. In one, Kanye West, who not too long ago argued that President Trump was on “a hero’s journey,” appears in the armchair from Get Outwearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, tears streaming down his face. In another, the actress Stacey Dash, who ran for Congress as a Republican from California, stares blankly out of a window.

Freud’s The Ego and the Id , however, gives us another way to understand the “sunken place.” Writing in 1923,Freud presents a comprehensive map of the psyche as a space where the ego, superego, and id form a dynamic structure that reacts to and is formed by multiple varieties of the unconscious. The superego, Freud argues, acts as a sort of “normative” check on behavior, while the id is libidinal energy and purely hedonistic. The ego, what is consciously enacted, balances these two different modes of the unconscious in order to function.

The Freudian model helps us to understand how racialization, the process of understanding oneself through the prism of racial categories, occurs at the level of the unconscious. When viewed in the context of psychoanalysis, the “sunken place” is what happens when the superego’s attachment to whiteness runs amok; when Chris’s eyes tear up and he involuntarily scratches the armchair, he is enacting bodily resistance that is connected to the id. What’s more, Freud’s structure also allows us to extend this understanding of race beyond the individual, toward thinking about why the “sunken place” can be seen as a metonym for race relations in the United States writ large.

Race itself was largely underdiscussed in Freud’s works. In one of his most explicit engagements with racial difference, 1930’s Civilization and its Discontents , he mostlyconfined his theorizations of racial difference to thinking about the atavistic and primitive. Following Freud, other analysts in the early 20th century tended to ignore underlying racial dynamics at work in their theories. For example, if patients discussed the ethnicity or race of a caretaker or other recurring figure in their lives, analysts tended not to explore these topics further. As a rich body of contemporary critical work on psychoanalysis has explored, this inattention to race created an assumption of universal normativity that was, in fact, attached to whiteness.

While psychoanalysis has historically ignored or mishandled discussions of race, Freud’s The Ego and the Id introduces concepts that are useful in thinking through race relations on both an individual and a national level. His tripartite division of the psyche can help show us how race itself functions as a “metalanguage,” to use Evelyn Higginbotham’s phrase , one that structures the unconscious and the possibilities for the emergence of the ego. In Get Out , “the sunken place” is the stage for a battle between a white-identified superego, which is induced through brain transplantation or hypnosis, and a black-identified id. Outside of the parameters of science fiction, however, this racialized inner struggle offers insight into theorizations of assimilation and racialization more broadly.

Sociologist Jeffrey Alexander describes assimilation, a process of adapting to a form of (implicitly white) normativity, as an attempt to incorporate difference through erasure even while insisting on some inassimilable (racialized) residue. Alexander writes , “Assimilation is possible to the degree that socialization channels exist that can provide ‘civilizing’ or ‘purifying’ processes—through interaction, education, or mass mediated representation—that allow persons to be separated from their primordial qualities. It is not the qualities themselves that are purified or accepted but the persons who formerly, and often still privately, bear them. ” The tensions between these performances of white normativity—“civilization”—and the particular “qualities” that comprise the minority subject that Alexander names are akin to the perpetual struggle Freud describes between the superego, id, and ego.

Drawing on psychoanalysis, recent theorists such as David Eng and Anne Anlin Cheng have emphasized the melancholia that accompanies assimilation—Chris’s involuntary tears in the “sunken place” and the instances of staring out the window, going on evening runs, and the flash-induced screams of the other black characters who have received white-brain implants perhaps being among the most extreme forms. Cheng argues that having to assimilate to a white culture produces melancholy at both the unattainability of whiteness for black and brown subjects and at the repression of racial otherness necessary to sustain white dominance. Cheng’s description of the “inarticulable loss that comes to inform the individual’s sense of his or her own subjectivity” helps explain why the conditions of white normativity can be particularly psychologically harmful for nonwhite subjects.

While Freud’s concepts are useful for understanding the psychological burden of racialization for nonwhite subjects under conditions of white normativity, scholars have also explored how Freud’s concepts of the ego, id, and superego can be used to theorize what it means to frame whiteness as a form of national consciousness. Describing the sadistic impulses of Jim Crow, theorist and psychiatrist Frantz Fanon argued that the ego of the United States is masochistic. In imagining the psychic structure of the country as a whole, he saw a clash between the nation’s aggressive id—which was attempting to dominate black people—and its superego—which felt guilt at the overt racism of a supposedly “democratic” country.

Fanon argued that the United States’ desires to punish black people (manifesting in virulent antiblack violence) were swiftly “followed by a guilt complex because of the sanction against such behavior by the democratic culture of the country in question.” Fanon exposed the hypocrisy inherent in holding anti-racist ideals while allowing racist violence to flourish. The country’s national masochism, he argued, meant that the United States could not recognize its own forms of white aggression; instead, the country embraced a stance of passivity and victimization in relation to nonwhites disavowing their own overt violence. Or, in Freud’s language, the country submerged the id in favor of an idealization of the superego.

We see this dynamic, too, in Get Out , where the white characters fetishize black physicality and talent as somehow inherent to their race, while strenuously denying any charges of racism. In the film, the white characters who wish to inhabit black bodies understand themselves primarily as victims of aging and other processes of debilitation, a logic that allows them to use their alleged affection for blackness to cloak their aggressive, dominative tendencies. Before Chris and Rose meet her parents, Rose tells him that they would have voted for Obama for a third term, a statement repeated in a later scene, by her father (Bradley Whitford), when he notices Chris watching the black domestic workers on the property: “By the way, I would have voted for Obama for a third term if I could. Best president in my lifetime. Hands down.” In such a statement, we can see ways that the masochistic white ego Fanon spoke about remains an accurate reflection of national debates about political correctness, what counts as racism, and the question of reparations.

As Get Out helps dramatize, we can use the legacy of Freud’s parsing of the unconscious to identify the tensions at work within individuals struggling to assimilate to a perceived idea of white normativity. But we can also use psychoanalytic concepts to understand how certain ideas of race have created a white national consciousness, which, in the United States and elsewhere, is in crisis. At this broader scale, we can begin to see how the national superego has sutured normativity to a pernicious idea of whiteness, one that manifests psychological, but also physical, aggression against nonwhite subjects.

For, while the presumption that whiteness is the “normal” and dominant culture situates it in the position of the superego for individuals who are attempting to assimilate, this assumption of superiority is actually an anxious position, haunted by racial others and constantly threatened by the possibility of destabilization. For many, this has led to difficulty reckoning with white culture’s violent tendencies, and to an insistence on its innocence. Working more with these Freudian dynamics might help us think more carefully about both strategies of resistance and survival for nonwhite subjects and what fuller contours of white accountability could look like.

The Superego or the Id

Todd McGowan

To properly understand The Ego and the Id ,we should mentally retitle it The Superego . The two terms most frequently invoked from Freud’s 1923 text are, perhaps unsurprisingly, the ego and the id . We have easily integrated them into our thinking and use them freely in everyday speech. The third term of the structural model—the superego —receives far less attention. This is evident, for instance, in the pop psychoanalysis surrounding Donald Trump. Some diagnose him as a narcissist, someone in love with his own ego. Others say that he represents the American id, because he lacks the self-control that inhibits most people. According to these views, he has either too much ego or too much id. Never one to be self-critical, Trump’s problem doesn’t appear to be an excess of superego. If the superego comes into play at all in diagnosing him, one would say that the problem is his lack of a proper superego.

In the popular reception of Freud’s thought, the discovery of the id typically represents his most significant contribution to an understanding of how we act. The id marks the point at which individuals lack control over what they do. The impulses of the id drive us to act in ways that are unacceptable to the rest of society. And yet, the concept of the id nonetheless serves a comforting function, in that it enables us to associate our most disturbing actions with biological impulses for which we have no responsibility. For this reason, we have to look beyond the id if we want to see how Freud most unsettles our self-understanding.

Freud’s introduction of the superego, in contrast, represents the most radical moment of The Ego and the Id , because it challenges all traditional conceptions of morality. Typically, our sense of the collective good restrains the amorality of our individual desires: we might want to crash our car into the driver who has just cut us off, but our conscience prevents us from disrupting our collective ability to coexist as drivers on the road. Historically, the reception of Freud’s work has considered the superego as this voice of moral conscience, but Freud theorizes that there are amoral roots to this moral voice. According to Freud, the superego does not represent the collective good, but manifests the individual desires of the id, which run counter to the collective good.

With the discovery of the concept of the superego, Freud reshapes how we think of ourselves as moral actors. If Freud is right that the superego “reaches deep down into the id,” then all our purportedly moral impulses have their roots in libidinal enjoyment. When we upbraid ourselves for a wayward desire for a married coworker, this moral reproof doesn’t dissipate the enjoyment of this desire but multiplies it. The more that we experience a desire as transgressive, the more ardently we feel it. In this way, the superego enables us to enjoy our desire while consciously believing that we are restraining it.

The concept of the superego reveals that the traditional picture of morality hides a fundamental amorality, which is why the response to The Ego and the Id has scrupulously avoided it. When we translate radical ideas like the superego into our common understanding, we reveal our assumed beliefs and values. In such a translation, the more distortion a concept suffers, the more it must represent a challenge to our ordinary way of thinking. This is the case with the popular emphasis on the ego and the id relative to the superego. What has been lost is the most radical discovery within this text.

Our failure to recognize how Freud theorizes the superego leaves us unable to contend with the moral crises that confront us today. We can see the catastrophic consequences in our contemporary relationship to the environment, for example. As our guilt about plastic in the oceans, carbon emissions, and other horrors increases, it augments our enjoyment of plastic and carbon rather than detracting from it. Using plastic ceases to be just a convenience and becomes a transgression, which gives us something to enjoy where otherwise we would just have something to use.

Enjoyment always involves a relationship to a limit. But in these cases, enjoyment derives from transgression, the sense of going beyond a limit. Our conscious feeling of guilt about transgression corresponds to an unconscious enjoyment that the superego augments. The more that environmental warnings take the form of directions from the superego, the more they create guilt without changing the basic situation. Far from limiting the enjoyment of our destructive desires, morality becomes, in Freud’s way of thinking, a privileged ground for expressing it, albeit in a disguised form. It turns out that what we think of as morality has nothing at all to do with morality.

The superego produces a sense of transgression and thereby supercharges our desire, turning morality into a way of enjoying ourselves. Picking up Freud’s discovery 50 years later, Jacques Lacan announces, “Nothing forces anyone to enjoy ( jouir ) except the superego. The superego is the imperative of jouissance—Enjoy!” All of our seemingly moral impulses and the pangs of conscience that follow are modes of obeying this imperative.

In this light, we might reevaluate the diagnosis of Donald Trump. If he seems unable to restrain himself and appears constantly preoccupied with finding enjoyment, this suggests that the problem is neither too much ego nor too much id. We should instead hazard the “wild psychoanalytic” interpretation that Trump suffers from too much superego. His preoccupation with enjoying himself—and never enjoying himself enough to find satisfaction—reflects the predominance of the superego in his psyche, making clear that the superego has nothing to do with actual morality, and everything with wanton immorality.

When we understand morality as a disguised form of enjoyment, this does not free us from morality. Instead, the discovery of the superego and its imperative to enjoy demands a new way of conceiving morality. Rather than being the vehicle of morality, the superego is a great threat to any moral action, because it allows us to believe that we are acting morally while we are actually finding a circuitous path to our own enjoyment. Contrary to the popular reading of the superego, authentic moral action requires a rejection of the superego’s imperatives, not obedience to them.

Morality freed from the superego would no longer involve guilt. It would focus on redefining our relationship to law. Rather than seeing law as an external constraint imposed on us by society, we would see it as the form that our own self-limitation takes. This would entail a change in how we relate to the law. If the law is our self-limitation rather than an external limit, we lose the possibility of enjoyment associated with transgression. One can transgress a law but not one’s own self-limitation.

In terms of the contemporary environmental crisis, we would conceive of a constraint on the use of plastic as the only way to enjoy using plastic, not as a restriction on this enjoyment. The limit on use would become our own form of enjoyment because the limit would be our own, not something imposed on us. The superego enjoins us to reject any limit by always pushing our enjoyment further. Identifying the law as our self-limitation provides a way of breaking with the logic of the superego and its fundamentally immoral form of morality.

Given what he chose as the title for the book— The Ego and the Id —it is clear that even Freud himself did not properly identify what was most radical in his discovery. He omitted the superego from the title at the expense of the ego and the id, even though his recognition of the superego and its role in the psyche represents the key insight from the book. In this sense, Freud paved the way for the popular misapprehension that followed.

What is missed or ignored by society often reveals what most unsettles it. Our commonly held beliefs and values might try to mute the disturbance caused by radical ideas like the superego, but they don’t eliminate their influence completely. By focusing on what Freud himself omits, we can uncover the insight in his work most able to help us think beyond the confines of traditional morality. The path of a genuine morality must travel beyond the superego.

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Id, Ego, and Superego: Freud's Elements of Personality

How do the three work together to form personality?

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The Interaction of the Id, Ego, and Superego

What happens if there is an imbalance.

According to  Sigmund Freud , human personality is complex and has more than a single component. In his famous psychoanalytic theory, Freud states that personality is composed of three elements known as the id, the ego, and the superego. These elements work together to create complex human behaviors.

"The id is considered the basis of sexual and aggressive energy and is largely held in the unconscious, emerging as illogical or wishful thinking," explains Shannon Sauer-Zavala, PhD , associate professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky. "The superego is one’s conscience and is established via identification with parental figures or social groups at large. The ego is tasked with balancing reality with the demands of desire (id) and morality (superego)." 

Each component adds its own unique contribution to personality, and the three interact in ways that have a powerful influence on an individual. Each element of personality emerges at different points in life.

According to Freud's theory, certain aspects of your personality are more primal and might pressure you to act upon your most basic urges. Other parts of your personality work to counteract these urges and strive to make you conform to the demands of reality. 

Here's a closer look at each of these key parts of the personality, how they work individually, and how they interact.

• According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality.
• The id is the only component of personality that is present from birth.
• This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes instinctive and primitive behaviors.

The id is driven by the  pleasure principle , which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state of anxiety or tension. For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate attempt to eat or drink.

The id is very important early in life because it ensures that an infant's needs are met. If the infant is hungry or uncomfortable, they will cry until the demands of the id are satisfied. Young infants are ruled entirely by the id; there is no reasoning with them when these needs demand satisfaction.

Examples of the Id

Imagine trying to convince a baby to wait until lunchtime to eat their meal. The id requires immediate satisfaction, and because the other components of personality are not yet present, the infant will cry until these needs are fulfilled.

However, immediately fulfilling these needs is not always realistic or even possible. If we were ruled entirely by the pleasure principle, we might find ourselves grabbing the things that we want out of other people's hands to satisfy our cravings.

This behavior would be both disruptive and socially unacceptable. According to Freud, the id tries to resolve the tension created by the pleasure principle through the use of  primary process thinking , which involves forming a mental image of the desired object to satisfy the need.

Although people eventually learn to control the id, this part of personality remains the same infantile, primal force throughout life. It is the development of the ego and the superego that allows people to control the id's basic instincts and act in ways that are both realistic and socially acceptable.

• 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.
• The ego functions in the  conscious , preconscious, and  unconscious  mind.
• The ego is the personality component responsible for dealing with reality.

Everyone has an ego. The term ego is sometimes used to describe your cohesive awareness of your personality, but personality and ego are not the same. The ego represents just one component of your full personality.

The ego operates based on the  reality principle , which strives to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. The reality principle weighs the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses.

In many cases, the id's impulses can be satisfied through a process of  delayed gratification —the ego will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the appropriate time and place.

The term ego is often used informally to suggest that someone has an inflated sense of self. However, the ego in personality has a positive effect. It is the part of your personality that keeps you grounded in reality and prevents the id and superego from pulling you too far toward your most basic urges or moralistic virtues. Having a strong ego means having a strong sense of self-awareness.

Freud compared the id to a horse and the ego to the horse's rider. The horse provides power and motion, while the rider provides direction and guidance. Without its rider, the horse would wander wherever it wished and do whatever it pleased. The rider gives the horse directions and commands to get it where it wants it to go.

The ego also discharges tension created by unmet impulses through secondary process thinking, in which the ego tries to find an object in the real world that matches the mental image created by the id's primary process.

Examples of the Ego

Imagine that you are stuck in a long meeting at work. You find yourself growing increasingly hungry as the meeting drags on. While the id might compel you to jump up from your seat and rush to the break room for a snack, the ego guides you to sit quietly and wait for the meeting to end.

Instead of acting upon the primal urges of the id, you spend the rest of the meeting imagining yourself eating a cheeseburger. Once the meeting is finally over, you can seek out the object you were imagining and satisfy the demands of the id realistically and appropriately.

The Superego

The last component of personality to develop is the superego .

• According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age 5.
• The superego holds the internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from our parents and society (our sense of right and wrong).
• The superego provides guidelines for making judgments.

The superego has two parts:

• The conscience  includes information about things that are viewed as bad by parents and society. These behaviors are often forbidden and lead to bad consequences, punishments, or feelings of guilt and remorse.
• The ego ideal  includes the rules and standards for behaviors that the ego aspires to.

The superego tries to perfect and civilize our behavior. It suppresses all the id's unacceptable urges and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather than on realistic principles. The superego is present in the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.

Examples of the Superego

For example, if you give in to the urges of the id, the superego is what will cause you to feel a sense of guilt or even shame about your actions. The superego may help you feel good about your behavior when you suppress your most primal urges.

Other examples of the superego include:

• A woman feels an urge to steal office supplies from work. However, her superego counteracts this urge by focusing on the fact that such behaviors are wrong. 
• A man realizes that the cashier at the store forgot to charge him for one of the items he had in his cart. He returns to the store to pay for the item because his internalized sense of right and wrong urges him to do so.
• A student forgets to study for a history test and feels an urge to cheat off of a student sitting nearby. Even though he feels like his chances of getting caught are low, he knows that cheating is wrong, so he suppresses the urge.

When talking about the id, the ego, and the superego, it is important to remember that these are not three separate entities with clearly defined boundaries. These aspects are dynamic and always interacting to influence an individual's overall personality and behavior.

With many competing forces, it is easy to see how conflict might arise between the id, ego, and superego. "A central theme of Freud’s work is that id, ego, and superego are always in conflict and the specific nature of these discrepancies determines one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (or personality)," says Sauer-Zavala.

Freud further assumed that it takes a lot of mental energy to keep the id’s desires in the unconscious; however, unconscious thoughts must go somewhere and are likely to be expressed in another form that may not be under one’s control (e.g., as symptom, dream, joke, slip of the tongue, or behavior).

Freud used the term  ego strength  to refer to the ego's ability to function despite these dueling forces. A person who has good ego strength can effectively manage these pressures, while a person with too much or too little ego strength can be unyielding or disruptive.

According to Freud, the key to a healthy personality is a balance between the id, the ego, and the superego. If the ego is able to adequately moderate between the demands of reality, the id, and the superego, a healthy and well-adjusted personality emerges. Freud believed that an imbalance between these elements would lead to a maladaptive personality.

"Freud believed that mental health difficulties (anxiety, depression) arise when 'the ego has lost the capacity to allocate the [id] in some way' (Freud, 1920), adds Sauer-Zavala. "Freud noted that, in many cases, the symptoms experienced are as bad or worse than the conflict they were designed to replace. Though the symptom is a substitute for the instinctual impulse, it has been so reduced, displaced, and distorted that it looks more like a compulsion or even an illness than a gratification of the id’s desire."

For example, an individual with an overly dominant id might become impulsive, uncontrollable, or even criminal. Such an individual acts upon their most basic urges with no concern for whether their behavior is appropriate, acceptable, or legal.

On the other hand, an overly dominant superego might lead to a personality that is extremely moralistic and judgmental. A person ruled by the superego might not be able to accept anything or anyone that they perceive to be "bad" or "immoral."

Final Thoughts

Freud's theory provides one conceptualization of how personality is structured and how the elements of personality function. In Freud's view, a balance in the dynamic interaction of the id, ego, and superego is necessary for a healthy personality.

"Freud’s accounts of the nature of one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors have largely fallen out of favor," admits Sauer-Zavala. "People began to question whether differences in people’s personalities could accurately be reduced to sexual and aggressive impulses. In fact, there is limited research support for Freud’s theories."

While the ego has a tough job to do, it does not have to act alone. Anxiety also plays a role in helping the ego mediate between the demands of the basic urges, moral values, and the real world. When you experience different types of anxiety , defense mechanisms may kick in to help defend the ego and reduce the anxiety you are feeling.

Boag S. Ego, drives, and the dynamics of internal objects. Front Psychol. 2014;5:666. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00666

Pulcu E. An evolutionary perspective on gradual formation of superego in the primal horde. Front Psychol. 2014;5:8. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00008

Bargh JA, Morsella E. The Unconscious Mind. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2008;3(1):73-9. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2008.00064.x

Carhart-harris RL, Friston KJ. The default-mode, ego-functions and free-energy: a neurobiological account of Freudian ideas. Brain . 2010;133(Pt 4):1265-83. doi:10.1093/brain/awq010

Schalkwijk F. A New Conceptualization of the Conscience. Front Psychol. 2018;9:1863. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01863

Kovačić petrović Z, Peraica T, Kozarić-kovačić D. Comparison of ego strength between aggressive and non-aggressive alcoholics: a cross-sectional study. Croat Med J . 2018;59(4):156-164. doi:10.3325/cmj.2018.59.156

Churchill R, Moore TH, Davies P, et al. Psychodynamic therapies versus other psychological therapies for depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010;(9):CD008706. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD008706

• Carducci, B. The psychology of personality: Viewpoints, research, and applications . John Wiley & Sons; 2009.
• Engler, B. Personality theories . Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing; 2009.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Freud’s Theory of Personality: Id, Ego, and Superego

Saul McLeod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

On This Page:

Perhaps Freud’s single most enduring and important idea was the human psyche ( personality ).

Freud’s personality theory (1923) saw the psyche structured into three parts (i.e., tripartite), the id, ego, and superego, all developing at different stages in our lives.

These are systems, not parts of the brain, or in any way physical, but rather hypothetical conceptualizations of important mental functions.

According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory , the id is the primitive and instinctual part of the mind that contains sexual and aggressive drives and hidden memories, the super-ego operates as a moral conscience, and the ego is the realistic part that mediates between the desires of the id and the super-ego.

Although each part of the personality comprises unique features, they interact to form a whole, and each part makes a relative contribution to an individual’s behavior.

What is the Id?

The id is the primitive and instinctive component of personality.

The id is a part of the unconscious that contains all the urges and impulses, including what is called the libido, a kind of generalized sexual energy that is used for everything from survival instincts to appreciation of art.

The id is the impulsive (and unconscious ) part of our psyche that responds directly and immediately to basic urges, needs, and desires. The personality of the newborn child is all id, and only later does it develop an ego and super-ego.

The id engages in primary process thinking, which is primitive, illogical, irrational, and fantasy-oriented. This form of process thinking has no comprehension of objective reality, and is selfish and wishful in nature.

The id operates on the pleasure principle (Freud, 1920), that every unconscious wishful impulse should be satisfied immediately, regardless of the consequences.

When the id achieves its demands, we experience pleasure, and when it is denied, we experience ‘unpleasure’ or tension.

The id comprises two kinds of biological instincts (or drives), including the sex (life) instinct called Eros (which contains the libido) and the aggressive (death) instinct called Thanatos.

Eros, or life instinct, helps the individual to survive; it directs life-sustaining activities such as respiration, eating, and sex (Freud, 1925). The energy created by the life instinct is known as libido.

In contrast, Thanatos, or death instinct, is viewed as a set of destructive forces in all human beings (Freud, 1920).

When this energy is directed outward onto others, it is expressed as aggression and violence. Freud believed that Eros was stronger than Thanatos, thus enabling people to survive rather than self-destruct.

The id remains infantile in its function throughout a person’s life and does not change with time or experience, as it is not in touch with the external world.

The id is not affected by reality, logic, or the everyday world, as it operates within the unconscious part of the mind.

What is the Ego?

Freud’s ego is the rational part of the psyche that mediates between the instinctual desires of the id and the moral constraints of the superego, operating primarily at the conscious level.

The ego is “that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world.” (Freud, 1923, p. 25)

The ego is the only part of the conscious personality. It’s what the person is aware of when they think about themselves and what they usually try to project toward others.

The ego develops to mediate between the unrealistic id and the real external world. It is the decision-making component of personality. Ideally, the ego works by reason, whereas the id is chaotic and unreasonable.

The ego develops from the id during infancy. The ego’s goal is to satisfy the id’s demands in a safe and socially acceptable way. In contrast to the id, the ego follows the reality principle as it operates in both the conscious and unconscious mind.

The ego operates according to the reality principle, working out realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands, often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of society.

The ego considers social realities and norms, etiquette, and rules in deciding how to behave.

Like the id, the ego seeks pleasure (i.e., tension reduction) and avoids pain, but unlike the id, the ego is concerned with devising a realistic strategy to obtain pleasure.

The ego has no concept of right or wrong; something is good simply if it achieves its end of satisfying without causing harm to itself or the id.

Often the ego is weak relative to the headstrong id, and the best the ego can do is stay on, pointing the id in the right direction and claiming some credit at the end as if the action were its own.

Freud made the analogy of the id being a horse while the ego is the rider. The ego is “like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superiour strength of the horse.” (Freud, 1923, p. 15)

If the ego fails to use the reality principle and anxiety is experienced, unconscious defense mechanisms are employed to help ward off unpleasant feelings (i.e., anxiety) or make good things feel better for the individual.

The ego engages in secondary process thinking, which is rational, realistic, and orientated toward problem-solving. If a plan of action does not work, then it is thought through again until a solution is found.

This is known as reality testing and enables the person to control their impulses and demonstrate self-control, via mastery of the ego.

An important feature of clinical and social work is to enhance ego functioning and help the client test reality through assisting the client to think through their options.

According to Freudians, some abnormal upbringing (particularly if there is a cold, rejecting ‘schizogenic’ mother) can result in a weak and fragile ego, whose ability to contain the id’s desires is limited.

This can lead to the ego being ‘broken apart’ by its attempt to contain the id, leaving the id in overall control of the psyche.

What is the Superego?

Freud’s superego is the moral component of the psyche, representing internalized societal values and standards. It contrasts with the id’s desires, guiding behavior towards moral righteousness and inducing guilt when standards aren’t met.

The superego incorporates the values and morals of society, which are learned from one’s parents and others. It develops around 3 – 5 years during the phallic stage of psychosexual development .

The superego develops during early childhood (when the child identifies with the same-sex parent) and is responsible for ensuring moral standards are followed.

The superego operates on the morality principle and motivates us to behave in a socially responsible and acceptable manner.

The superego is seen as the purveyor of rewards (feelings of pride and satisfaction) and punishments (feelings of shame and guilt), depending on which part (the ego-deal or conscious) is activated.

The superego is a part of the unconscious that is the voice of conscience (doing what is right) and the source of self-criticism.

It reflects society’s moral values to some degree, and a person is sometimes aware of their own morality and ethics, but the superego contains many codes, or prohibitions, that are issued mostly unconsciously in the form of commands or “don’t” statements.

The superego’s function is to control the id’s impulses, especially those which society forbids, such as sex and aggression.

It also persuades the ego to turn to moralistic goals rather than simply realistic ones and strive for perfection.

The superego consists of two systems: The conscience and the ideal self.

• The conscience is our “inner voice” that tells us when we have done something wrong.

The conscience can punish the ego by causing feelings of guilt. For example, if the ego gives in to the id’s demands, the superego may make the person feel bad through guilt.

The superego is also somewhat tricky, in that it will try to portray what it wants the person to do in grandiose, glowing terms, what Freud called the ego-ideal, which arises out of the person’s first great love attachment (usually a parent).

• The ideal self (or ego-ideal) is an imaginary picture of how you ought to be, and represents career aspirations, how to treat other people, and how to behave as a member of society.

The assumption is that children raised by parents experience love conditionally (when they do something right), and the child internalizes these experiences as a series of real or imagined judgmental statements.

Behavior which falls short of the ideal self may be punished by the superego through guilt. The super-ego can also reward us through the ideal self when we behave ‘properly’ by making us feel proud.

Guilt is a common problem because of all the urges and drives from the id and all the prohibitions and codes in the superego. There are various ways an individual handles guilt, which are called defense mechanisms .

If a person’s ideal self is too high a standard, then whatever the person does will represent failure. The ideal self and conscience are largely determined in childhood by parental values and how you were brought up.

Examples of the Id, Ego, and Superego

Skipping a workout:

• The id : I want to skip my workout because I feel lazy and just want to relax.
• The superego : I shouldn’t skip the workout because it’s essential for my health and discipline.
• The ego : I can do a shorter workout today and make up for it with a longer session tomorrow.

Buying an expensive item:

• The id : I want this luxury bag now because it’s stylish and will make me feel good.
• The superego : I shouldn’t spend so much on a bag when I could save or use that money for more essential things.
• The ego : I’ll save a portion of my salary for a few months, and if I still want it, I’ll buy the bag as a reward.

Reacting to criticism:

• The id : I’m upset and want to snap back immediately because they hurt my feelings.
• The superego : I should remain calm and composed, taking criticism professionally and not personally.
• The ego : I’ll consider the feedback, see if there’s any truth to it, and respond diplomatically, asking for clarification if needed.

Therapeutic Implications

Freud believed that mental illness is caused by conflicts in the unconscious between the id, ego, and superego.

Neuroses, according to Freud, are caused by an overdominant superego, the resultant defense mechanisms implemented by the ego in an attempt to regain control.

Because the defense mechanisms are being over-used, too much psychic energy is used and allows the maladaptive behavior to emerge. Psychoses, in contrast, are caused by an overdominant id.

According to the psychodynamic approach , the therapist would resolve the problem by assisting the client in delving back into their childhood and identifying when the problem arose.

Identifying the problem can bring this into the conscious, where the imbalance can be resolved, returning equanimity between the id, ego, and superego.

Consequently, the defense mechanisms will only operate at the maintenance level, and the mental illness will be cured.

However, psychoanalysis , the method used to produce this new balance, is time-consuming and costly. Furthermore, no objective measurement can be taken to demonstrate that a cure has been effected; it is reliant on the client’s subjective report of their improvement.

There is concern that clients may claim they are better, not because they are, but because of the time and expense involved. 

Freud, S. (1920). Beyond the pleasure principle . SE, 18: 1-64.

Freud, S. (1923). The ego and the id . SE, 19: 1-66.

What is the difference between the ego and the id?

The id is the primitive, impulsive part of our psyche driven by instincts and desires, while the ego is the rational, conscious part that mediates between the id’s demands and the realities of the external world.

The ego balances the id’s desires with the superego’s moral guidance, striving to maintain harmony within the human psyche.

What is an example of the id ego superego?

An example of the id, ego, and superego interaction can be illustrated through a person on a strict diet who is tempted by a box of delicious donuts at work. The id impulsively desires immediate gratification by indulging in the donuts.

At the same time, the superego reminds the person of their commitment to a healthy lifestyle and instills feelings of guilt for considering breaking the diet.

The ego mediates between the id’s cravings and the superego’s moral standards, potentially allowing the person to eat just one donut as a compromise, demonstrating its role in maintaining psychological balance amidst conflicting desires.

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Freud: Id, Ego, and Superego Explained

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• Ph.D., Psychology, Fielding Graduate University
• M.A., Psychology, Fielding Graduate University
• B.A., Film Studies, Cornell University

Sigmund Freud’s theory of personality is one of his most well-known ideas. This theory proposes that the human psyche is composed of three separate but interacting parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. The three parts develop at different times and play different roles in personality, but work together to form a whole and contribute to an individual’s behavior. While the id, ego, and superego are often referred to as structures, they are purely psychological and don’t exist physically in the brain.

Key Takeaways: Id, Ego, and Superego

• Sigmund Freud originated the concepts of the id, the ego, and the superego, three separate but interacting parts of the human personality that work together to contribute to an individual's behavior.
• While Freud’s ideas have often been critiqued and labeled unscientific, his work continues to be highly influential in the field of psychology.

Freud’s work wasn’t based on empirical research, but on his observations and case studies of his patients and others, so his ideas are often viewed with skepticism. Nonetheless, Freud was an enormously prolific thinker and his theories are still considered important. In fact, his concepts and theories are the foundation of psychoanalysis, an approach to psychology that is still studied today.

Freud’s personality theory was influenced by earlier ideas about the mind working at conscious and unconscious levels. Freud believed that early childhood experiences are filtered through the id, ego, and superego, and the way an individual handles these experiences, consciously and unconsciously , shapes personality in adulthood.

According to Freud, the id is the earliest part of the personality to emerge. The id is present at birth and runs on pure instinct, desire, and need. It is entirely unconscious and encompasses the most primitive part of the personality, including basic biological drives and reflexes.

The id is motivated by the pleasure principle, which wants to gratify all impulses immediately. If the id's needs aren’t met, it creates tension. However, because all desires cannot be fulfilled right away, those needs may be satisfied, at least temporarily, through primary process thinking in which the individual fantasizes about what they desire.   

Newborns’ behavior is driven by the id—they are concerned only with having their needs met. The id never grows up. Throughout life, it remains infantile because, as an unconscious entity, it never considers reality. As a result, the id remains illogical and selfish. The ego and the superego develop to keep the id in check.

The second part of the personality, the ego, arises from the id. Its job is to acknowledge and deal with reality, ensuring that the id’s impulses are reigned in and expressed in socially acceptable ways.

The ego operates from the reality principle, which works to satisfy the id’s desires in the most reasonable and realistic ways. The ego may do this by delaying gratification, compromising, or acting in ways that will avoid the negative consequences of going against society’s norms and rules.

Such rational thinking is referred to as secondary process thinking. It is geared towards problem-solving and reality-testing, enabling the person to maintain self-control. Like the id, the ego is interested in seeking pleasure, however, it wants to do so in a realistic way. The ego is not concerned with right and wrong, but with how to maximize pleasure and minimize pain without getting into trouble.

The ego operates at conscious, preconscious, and unconscious levels. The ego’s consideration of reality is conscious. However, it may also keep forbidden desires hidden by unconsciously repressing them. Much of the ego’s functioning is also preconscious, meaning it happens below awareness but takes little effort to bring those thoughts into consciousness.

Freud initially used the term ego to reference one’s sense of self. Often, when we use the term in everyday conversation—such as when we say someone has a “big ego”—we are using it in this sense. Yet, the term ego in Freud’s theory of personality no longer refers to the self-concept but to functions like judgment, regulation, and control.

The superego is the final part of the personality, emerging between the ages of 3 and 5, the phallic stage in Freud’s stages of psychosexual development. Freud says that the superego is the moral compass of the personality, upholding a sense of right and wrong, values that are initially learned from one’s parents. However, the superego continues to grow over time, enabling children to adopt moral standards from other people they admire, such as teachers.

The superego consists of two components: the conscious and the ego ideal. The conscious is the part of the superego that forbids unacceptable behaviors and punishes with feelings of guilt when a person does something they should not. The ego ideal, or ideal self, includes the rules and standards of good behavior one should adhere to. If one is successful in adhering to these behavioral standards, it leads to feelings of pride. However, if the standards of the ego ideal are too high, the person might feel like a failure and experience guilt.

The superego not only controls the id and its impulses towards societal taboos, like sex and aggression, but it also attempts to get the ego to go beyond realistic standards and aspire to moralistic ones. The superego works at conscious and unconscious levels. People are often aware of their ideas of right and wrong but sometimes these ideals impact us unconsciously.

The Mediating Ego

The id, ego, and superego interact constantly. Ultimately, though, it’s the ego that serves as the mediator between the id, the superego, and reality. The ego must determine how to meet the needs of the id, while upholding social reality and the moral standards of the superego.

A healthy personality is the result of a balance between the id, ego, and superego. A lack of balance leads to difficulties. If a person’s id dominates their personality, they may act on their impulses without considering the rules of society. This can cause them to spin out of control and even lead to legal troubles. If the superego dominates, the person can become rigidly moralistic, negatively judging anyone who doesn’t meet their standards. Finally if the ego becomes dominant, it can lead to an individual who is so tied to the rules and norms of society that they become inflexible, unable to deal with change, and incapable of coming to a personal concept of right and wrong.

Many critiques have been leveled at Freud’s theory of personality. For example, the idea that the id is the dominant component of personality is considered problematic, especially Freud’s emphasis on unconscious drives and reflexes, like the sexual drive. This perspective minimizes and oversimplifies the intricacies of human nature.

In addition, Freud believed that the superego emerges in childhood because children fear harm and punishment. However, research has shown that children whose greatest fear is punishment only appear to develop morals—their real motivation is to avoid getting caught and prevent harm. A sense of morality actually develops when a child experiences love and wants to keep it. To do so, they engage in behavior that exemplifies their parents’ morals and, therefore, will gain their approval.

Despite these criticisms, Freud’s ideas about the id, the ego, and the superego have been, and continue to be, highly influential in the field of psychology.

• Cherry, Kendra. “What is Psychoanalysis?” Verywell Mind , 7 June 2018, https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-psychoanalysis-2795246
• Cherry, Kendra. “What Are the Id, Ego, and Superego?” Verywell Mind , 6 Nov. 2018, https://www.verywellmind.com/the-id-ego-and-superego-2795951
• Crain, William. Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. 5th ed., Pearson Prentice Hall. 2005.
• "Ego, superego, and id." New World Encyclopedia, 20 Sept. 2017, http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Ego,_superego,_and_id&oldid=1006853
• McLeod, Saul. “Id, Ego and Superego.” Simply Psychology , 5 Feb. 2016, https://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html
• "The Freudian Theory of Personality.” Journal Psyche , http://journalpsyche.org/the-freudian-theory-of-personality/#more-191
• Psychodynamic Theory: Approaches and Proponents
• Oedipus Complex
• Anna Freud, Founder of Child Psychoanalysis
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Explained
• An Introduction to Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development
• What Is Uses and Gratifications Theory? Definition and Examples
• The Life of Carl Jung, Founder of Analytical Psychology
• Dream Interpretation According to Psychology
• What Is Decision Fatigue? Definition and Examples
• What Is Self-Concept in Psychology?
• Social Constructionism Definition and Examples
• Social Cognitive Theory: How We Learn From the Behavior of Others
• Understanding Sexual Orientation From a Psychological Perspective
• Freudian Slips: The Psychology Behind Slips of the Tongue
• The Stages of Adlerian Therapy
• What Is the Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion? Definition and Overview

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Id, Ego, and Superego: Understanding Freud’s Theory

The id, ego, and superego are important are components of personality in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. Learn more.

In this article

Sigmund Freud’s theory of personality divides the human psyche into three components: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id represents basic drives and primal desires, the ego manages reality, and the superego acts as the moral conscience.

Each part of personality emerges during different times in development.

• The id is present at birth and strives to satisfy basic urges
• The ego emerges during early childhood and deals with the demands of reality
• The superego emerges after age five and seeks to impose morality

According to Freud, the interaction of these three parts of the personality influences how people think and behave (Freud, 1923). 

To understand Freud’s theory, it is essential to understand how he described each of these components of personality . This article describes Freud’s theory of the id, ego, and superego and explores how these three aspects of personality interact.

Key Takeaways: The id drives our needs and desires, and the superego strives for morality and perfection. The ego is the mediator between the two that tries to fulfill the needs of the id and the superego while accounting for the demands of reality. The id, ego, and superego are separate parts of personality, but they interact and overlap in many ways. These three aspects of personality are psychological concepts; they do not represent actual physical areas of the brain. Freud’s theories are often criticized for being unscientific and unsupported by the evidence. Despite this, his work has been highly influential.

Freud believed that the id was the most basic and primal component of personality. It is the only part of the personality that is present at birth.

The id controls all of a person’s instinctual behaviors. Since the id is primitive and instinctual, it operates on an unconscious level. 

Also, it is guided by what Freud referred to as the pleasure principle . The pleasure principle works to pursue the immediate gratification of any need or desire that a person has. For example, feelings of hunger produce an immediate desire for food. When these needs are not met, people may experience feelings of anxiety, tension, or unease. 

However, not every need or want a person experiences can be satisfied immediately. If you were to try to satisfy an urge at the wrong time in the wrong setting, you might find yourself behaving in ways that are inappropriate or socially unacceptable. So, something needs to help moderate the primitive demands of the id, which is where the next part of personality comes in: the ego.

Interestingly, Freud actually didn’t refer to it as the id. In his native German, it was known as “das Es,” which means the “it.” It was when Freud’s works were translated to English that his translator, James Strachey, substituted the word id as a Latinization of the terman es. Both mean “it.”

Freud described the ego as a part of personality that allows the id’s desires to be expressed realistically and acceptably. The ego develops from the id but has been modified by the influence of the real world.

In reality, Freud didn’t call it the ego. In German, he called it “das Ich,” meaning “the I.” It was his translator, James Strachey, who substituted “ego” as a Latinization of the German word meaning “the I.”

It operates on what Freud described as the reality principle . Where the id’s demands are unconscious,  unrealistic, or unacceptable, the ego’s goal is to fulfill those desires in a way that accounts for reality. This means assessing the situation and weighing the pros and cons of taking action. 

Freud compared the relationship of the ego and id to that of a rider and horse. The horse is the powerful force that propels the two forward, but the rider controls the direction and course that they follow.

Sometimes, this might mean waiting to fulfill a need until you are in the right time and place, a process known as delayed gratification. For example, if you are tired, the ego would keep you from taking a nap until you are home in bed instead of drifting off in the middle of the work day.

Id vs. Ego: What’s the Difference? The id represents all of a person’s most basic primal urges. Left unchecked, the id would direct a person to fulfill all their desires without consideration for reality or the consequences of their actions. The ego is the part of personality that must account for reality. It helps restrain the desires of the id and fulfill these urges in ways that are realistic and socially appropriate.

The Superego

The superego is part of personality that strives for moral behavior. It is made up of all the internalized beliefs, values, and morals that people learn from their parents and their society. It is the last component of personality to form and usually begins to emerge sometime between the ages of three and five. 

The superego plays a vital role in decision-making and judgments.

Freud suggested that the superego is made up of two components:

• The conscience: This part of the superego is concerned with things considered bad, inappropriate, or immoral. Doing things that go against the conscience can trigger negative consequences, such as being punished or experiencing a sense of guilt.
• The ego ideal: This is the idealized self that an individual aspires to. In other words, it is what we believe we should be doing, how we feel we should behave, and how we think we should treat others.

The goal of the superego is to suppress the primitive urges of the id. If the superego had its way, you would live up to the high idealistic standards without ever giving into the urges and demands of the primal id.

How the Id, Ego, and Superego Interact

The id, ego, and superego don’t function separately and independently. Instead, they overlap and interact in various ways to influence how people think, feel, and behave. 

These forces are dynamic and always shifting. Sometimes the demands of the id might take precedence. In other cases, it might be the superego that takes the lead. In every situation, the ego serves as the mediator trying to strike a balance between the demands of the id, the superego, and reality. 

Ego strength is what Freud called the ego’s ability to manage these competing forces effectively. Having poor ego strength means that you might give in to your impulses more frequently while having too much might mean an inability to adapt and compromise.

A healthy, well-functioning personality is about striking a need between the id, ego, and superego.

When There Is Conflict

When the id, ego, and superego are in conflict, it can lead to psychological distress and maladaptive behavior.

For example, if the id is dominant and the ego and superego are weak, an individual may engage in impulsive and self-destructive behavior without considering the consequences or the impact on others. This can lead to problems such as addiction, reckless behavior, and criminal activity.

On the other hand, if the superego is dominant and the id is weak, an individual may be overly rigid and self-controlled. This can result in suppressing natural desires and impulses in favor of strict adherence to moral and ethical values. When this happens, people may experience problems such as anxiety, depression, and a lack of spontaneity and enjoyment in life.

When the ego is unable to balance the demands of the id and the superego effectively, it can lead to feelings of guilt, anxiety, and confusion. This can manifest in symptoms such as compulsive behavior, obsessions, and phobias.

Examples of the Id, Ego, and Superego

To understand how the id, ego, and superego operate, it can be helpful to look at some hypothetical situations as examples. Here are some common examples of the id, ego, and superego in action:

Eating a piece of cake:

• The id : I want to eat the cake because it looks delicious, and I feel hungry.
• The superego : I shouldn’t eat the cake because it’s unhealthy and goes against my diet.
• The ego : I can eat a small piece of cake as a treat, but I will balance it out by eating healthy for the rest of the day.

Having a crush on someone:

• The id : I want to express my attraction to the person and be intimate with them.
• The superego : I shouldn’t act on my attraction because it could harm the person or go against my moral values.
• The ego : I can express my interest in the person in an appropriate way while also respecting their boundaries.

Being stuck in traffic:

• The id: I want to get home quickly and feel frustrated by the traffic.
• The superego : I should be patient and calm, and not get angry or aggressive towards other drivers.
• The ego : I can acknowledge my frustration and find ways to cope with it, such as listening to music or taking deep breaths while driving safely and courteously.

These are just a few examples, but the id, ego, and superego constantly interact and influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in countless ways.

Influence of the Id, Ego, and Superego

It is important to recognize that Freud’s concept of the id, ego, and superego is a theory. These three aspects of the psyche, as conceived by Freud, don’t represent actual physical regions of the human brain. 

Freud’s theories are generally considered interesting but flawed by today’s standards. However, researchers have also pointed out that the id, ego, and superego described by Freud are closely aligned to the concepts of the unconscious, conscious, and metacognition structure of the mind that are currently studied in neuroscience. 

Impact on Therapy

Despite critiques, the concept of the id, ego, and superego is still relevant in modern psychology and therapy, although it has been expanded and modified over time. Today, many therapists use psychodynamic approaches that draw on Freudian concepts, including the id, ego, and superego, to help individuals better understand their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Unconscious Conflicts

One way that the id, ego, and superego are applied in modern therapy is by exploring unconscious conflicts and unresolved emotions that contribute to psychological distress. For example, a therapist may help clients uncover and process past traumas impacting their current behavior and emotions. By understanding these conflicts, the therapist can work with them to develop more effective coping strategies.

Greater Self-Awareness

Another way in which the concept is applied is by helping individuals develop a stronger sense of self-awareness and self-reflection. By examining their own thoughts and behaviors, individuals can learn to understand better the motivations and desires that are driving them. In doing so, they can develop a more balanced and integrated sense of self.

While the specific applications of the id, ego, and superego concepts may vary depending on the therapist and the approach used, exploring and balancing unconscious forces remains a central focus in many forms of modern psychology and therapy.

Can the Id, Ego, and Superego Change?

The id, ego, and superego can be developed or changed over time through various experiences and life events.

For example, as individuals age and gain more life experience, their superego may become more fully developed as they internalize societal norms and values. This can lead to greater self-control and a greater ability to delay gratification as the superego becomes more effective in regulating the id’s impulses.

Similarly, traumatic experiences or major life events can disrupt the balance between the id, ego, and superego, leading to changes in their relative strengths or abilities to manage impulses and emotions.

Therapy can also play a role in developing or changing the id, ego, and superego. By working with a trained therapist, individuals can gain insight into their unconscious thoughts and behaviors and develop more effective strategies for managing their impulses and emotions. Over time, this can lead to a more balanced and integrated psyche. When this happens, the id, ego, and superego are able to work together more harmoniously and effectively.

Freud’s id, ego, and superego describe different aspects of personality that interact to help shape human behavior. This theory suggests that the id is made up of basic instincts and that the superego is made up of internalized moral ideals. The ego is the part of personality that deals with reality and manages the demands of both the id and superego.

It is the interaction between the id, ego, and superego that influences our personality and makes us who we are—at least, according to Freud. While his theories have been the source of controversy, understanding them offers important background into current thinking in the field of psychology.

EXPERT PICKS: Freud’s Elements of Personality : I’ve also written about the id, ego, and superego for Verywell Mind. Check it out to learn more about these three elements work together to form personality. What Is Psychoanalysis? The Ego, the Id, and the Superego [VIDEO] : Check out this video from the Freud Museum to learn more about the topic. 16 Personality Factors : Freud’s theory is one of many different ones focused on human personality. Cattell’s 16 personality factors is another prominent theory you may want to explore.

Bargh, J. A., & Morsella, E. (2008). The unconscious mind . Perspectives on Psychological Science , 3(1), 73–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6916.2008.00064.x

Boag S. (2014). Ego, drives, and the dynamics of internal objects .  Frontiers in Psychology ,  5 , 666. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00666

Churchill, R., Moore, T. H., Davies, P., Caldwell, D., Jones, H., Lewis, G., & Hunot, V. (2010). Psychodynamic therapies versus other psychological therapies for depression . Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews . https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD008706

Freud S. Beyond the Pleasure Principle . SE.  1920;18:1-64.

Freud, S. (1923). The Ego and the Id. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XIX (1923-1925): The Ego and the Id and Other Works, 1-66.

Schalkwijk, F. (2018). A new conceptualization of the conscience . Frontiers in Psychology , 9, 1863. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01863

Editor-in-Chief

Kendra Cherry, MS.Ed., is a writer, editor, psychosocial therapist, and founder of Explore Psychology, an online psychology resource. She is a Senior Writer for Verywell Mind and is the author of the Everything Psychology Book (Adams Media).

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Id, Ego, and Superego and their Influence on our Conscious and Unconscious Actions

How it works

Everyone has had words that they say they didn’t mean slip out of their mouths, and everyone has that little voice in their head that tells them what’s wrong and what’s right. Our actions are influenced by, according to Sigmund Freud, the id, ego, and superego. These three terms represent the way that our minds work. The id, ego, and superego are the building blocks of our personalities, and they are formed by the way people are raised and the society those people live in.

The id, ego, and superego are all elements of the human psyche, and each of them influences our actions based on the circumstances present. They also act in unseen ways, such as through dreams and defense mechanisms.

According to Freud, the id is completely unconscious and contains our instincts and impulses. It is a part of humans as soon as they are born, and it will be until that human dies. It seeks to please or satisfy one’s needs immediately. This is the part of us that contains our animalistic side, meaning that everything it pertains to is purely instinctual, with no second thought as to who will be harmed. It is what tells us to find and consume food and water.

One example of this is when a baby cries until it is given food, which can annoy everyone around that baby until it gets what it wants. Social examples of the id are as follows: doing something to hurt someone’s feelings, lying, and having fun (Kasschau 380). After someone hurts someone’s feelings, sometimes they will claim that they didn’t mean to say it or that it wasn’t meant offensively. These scenarios are examples of something called a Freudian slip.

A Freudian slip is when the id takes matters into its own hands, saying something that the ego or superego would normally prohibit. This means that the person was true in saying they didn’t mean to say it, but it also means that that is how they really feel. Supposedly, they represent unconscious thoughts or wishes. Freud actually came up with a term that describes how the id thinks too. He first theorized that the id follows something called the pleasure principle.

The pleasure principle simply seeks the immediate gratification of every need and want of the person. The pleasure principle only has to do with primitive instincts located in the id. Cherry expands Freud’s concept of primitive urges to include anger, hunger, thirst, and sex. However, most of these instinctual parts of us are buried so deeply inside of us that they only come up as a last resort except for children. Children have not learned how they are supposed to act yet, so they tend to act in the moment, not caring if what they are doing is acceptable or not. However, as children grow older, another part of their personality will begin to develop that shapes their actions.

The ego is part of our psyche that will adapt to the environment around the person. It can develop based on the person’s available senses, creating a roadmap as to what is okay and what is not. Freud theorized that the ego would react according to the reality principle. The reality principle acts upon the pleasure principle. For example, very young children would do whatever they could to try to fulfill their desires, but as their ego forms, they begin to think about the consequences of their actions, invoking the reality principle.

The ego can realize that the body may need food at the moment from the id, but the ego is what says that your body may need food now, but you will also need it in the future (Kasschau). Using the reality principle allows a person to suppress their id’s desire for immediate gratification and instead search for a method that will result in the least amount of consequences. As noted before, it can also be used in survival situations to limit oneself. It helps keep the mind and body in regulation.

Freud created a metaphor to help explain how the ego and the id interact, saying that they act like a horse and a rider, the horse being the id, full of power and strength, and the rider being the ego, which attempts to guide the horse or the id, in the right direction (Hedgespeth 632). The ego is also responsible for defending its person.

The ego is responsible for what is known as defense mechanisms. Each defensive mechanism is unconsciously activated and is typically resorted to because the ego is not completely able to handle the job. These defense mechanisms prevent feelings of failure, conflict, and frustration by pretending as if nothing was ever wrong in the first place. These come up in order to prevent the ego from feeling anxiety about its failures (Kasschau 380). There are multiple types of defense mechanisms, each spawning for a different reason. These types are rationalization, repression, denial, projection, reaction formulation, regression, displacement, and sublimation. Below, there will be some scenarios and descriptions for each of these defense mechanisms.

Rationalization is the process of making up excuses for not doing well. An example of rationalization is if a person fails a math test and states that the teacher expected too much from them or that they just didn’t teach the material very well. Rationalization revolves around saying that it was not your fault for not performing well.

Repression is put into play when a person has very painful memories that harm the ego too much. The way repression deals with this is really by not dealing with it at all and sending it to the unconscious part of the mind. As Richard Kasschau stated in Understanding Psychology, “A grown woman whose father is meddling in her life may have the impulse to say, ‘I hate you, Dad.”

The woman may feel so anxious and afraid about having such an impulse that she unconsciously will come to believe that what she feels is not hatred. She replaces the feeling with apathy” (381). Repression is a very dangerous defense mechanism for the mind. It distorts reality in a way that can come back to bite. It never lets you heal from experience, which means those memories can pop back up in your mind at any given time. The only time these feelings could be accessed from the person’s unconscious mind is through Freudian slips.

Denial is another defense mechanism that doesn’t deal with the issue at all. It instead involves a person refusing to accept reality. For example, a person can lose someone that they are very close to, yet not be able to process it. Instead, they refuse to believe the impact that their loss actually has on their life.

Projection is putting your issues or anxiety onto another person in your mind. For example, a boy can be jealous of his girlfriend but not want to admit it, and he will say, “I’m not jealous – she’s the one who’s always asking where I’ve been, who that girl was I was talking to” (Kasschau 382). Instead of dealing with his issue of jealousy, he becomes convinced that his girlfriend is the one who is jealous of him.

Reaction formation is simply replacing an unwanted feeling with the opposite feeling. To put it into context, “a divorced father may resent having his child for the weekend. Unconsciously, he believes it is terribly wrong for a father to react that way, so he showers the child with expressions of love, toys, and exciting trips” (Kasschau 382). The father did not want to accept that he did not want to have his child over, so he instead began to treat the child in the opposite way that he thought. Another example could also just be being nervous but acting as if everything is okay and you’re confident.

Regression is the process of retreating to a previous method of behavior. An adult could have something stressful happen to him, and he could act out in a way that helped him before, such as a temper tantrum as a child (Kasschau 383). He could not deal with his current situation, so he instead resorted to something that worked in the past for him.

Displacement involves invoking emotions on someone else because you can’t invoke the emotion upon whom it is based. An example of this is having issues at home and being very angry, which results in you snapping at a coworker or peer. It could also be found in a woman who lost her husband but now takes that love for her husband and places it on her pets.

Sublimation is redirecting your emotions or energy into another activity. You could be angry that someone else was chosen over you, so you begin to channel that energy or anger into becoming better. Sublimation is a defense mechanism that is mature and healthy.

Ego does not go unchecked, though. There is another part of the human psyche known as the superego. The superego forms after both the id and the ego, and it acts as the more commonly known conscience. It is formulated based on the person’s parents or guardians’ superegos. Their ideals transfer onto their child’s. In a way, the superego takes over the role of the child’s parents or guardians, telling the ego of the child what is right and what is wrong.

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Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Id Ego and Superego — Id, Ego, Superego: Analysis of The Fight Club Characters

Id, Ego, Superego: Analysis of The Fight Club Characters

• Categories: Id Ego and Superego Psychoanalytic Theory Sigmund Freud

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Words: 2381 |

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Published: May 17, 2022

Words: 2381 | Pages: 5 | 12 min read

Bibliography:

• Freud, Sigmund, translated by Joyce Crick, with an introduction and notes by Ritchie Robertson., (1999) The interpretation of dreams Oxford University Press P.231
• Freud, Sigmund, ‘The Essentials of Psychoanalysis’ Th Ego and the id, (1986) P. 450
• Freud, Sigmund, ‘Beyond the Pleasure Principle’ Chapter III, P.16
• Freud, Sigmund, ‘Beyond the Pleasure Principle’

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