Personality Components: Id, Ego, and Superego. Freud
conceptualized personality structure as having three components: id, ego, and
superego (Freud, 1923/1962). The id is the part of one’s nature that reflects basic or innate desires such as
pleasure-seeking behavior, aggression, and sexual impulses. The id seeks instant gratification, causes impulsive unthinking
behavior,
and has no
regard for rules or social convention. The superego is the part of a person’s nature that reflects moral and ethical concepts, values, and parental and social expectations; therefore, it is in direct opposition to the id. The third
component, the ego, is the balancing or
mediating force between the id and the superego. The ego represents mature and adaptive behavior that allows a person to
function successfully in the world. Freud believed that anxiety resulted from
the ego’s attempts to balance the impulsive instincts of the id with the
stringent rules of the superego. The accompanying drawing demonstrates the
relationship of these personality structures.
Reference -Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing, 5th
Edition-Sheila L. Videbeck page no 44-45
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