Freud's theory of personality

Question 1

Ego

Answer 1

• develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world.
• functions in the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind.
• the personality component responsible for dealing with reality
• represents just one component of your full personality.
• 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 BLANK will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the appropriate time and place
• EX: 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 BLANK guides you to sit quietly and wait for the meeting to end.

Question 2

ID

Answer 2

• the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality
• the only component of personality that is present from birth
• this aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes instinctive and primitive behaviors.
• EX: 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.
• It is the development of the BLANK and the BLANK that allows people to control the BLANK’s basic instincts and act in ways that are both realistic and socially acceptable.

Question 3

Superego

Answer 3

• the last component of personality to develop
• begins to emerge at around age five.
• holds the internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from our parents and society (our sense of right and wrong)
• provides guidelines for making judgments.
• 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.
• tries to perfect and civilize our behavior. It suppresses all id’s unacceptable urges and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather than on realistic principles. The BLANK is present in the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.
• EX: 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 BLANK may help you feel good about your behavior when you suppress your most primal urges.