Sigmund Freud: The Comparison Of The Id, Ego And Superego

Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory was based on the opinion that human personality is made up of three components: the id, ego and superego. These three components are arranged along a hierarchy order with the id at the basal end, the ego in the middle and the super ego at the pinnacle. The id at the base, seeks instantaneous pleasure and fulfillment, driven by the pleasure principle. The id wants what it wants, when it wants it; regardless of whether or not it is possible to satisfy that particular want or need. The presence or logics of reality or societal behavior has no effect on the id. For example, if an infant is thirsty and sees a bottle of water he will take the bottle and drink even if it belonged to someone else and he did not

It is driven by the reality principle by attempting to rationalize the situation and acts accordingly in order to achieve satisfaction while doing it in a socially acceptable manner. The ego is ‘like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse’ (Freud, 1923). For example, while out at a restaurant Tom is thirsty but knew that the waiter would return to refill the water glass, so he waited until then to get a drink, even though he just really wanted to drink from Mrs. Smith’s glass. The super ego sits, omnipresent, at the top and acts as a moral compass for both the id and ego. McLeod (2008) states that the superego attempts to manage the urges of the id and convince the ego to think and act towards moralistic goals rather than simply realistic ones and to strive for perfection. There are two aspects of the superego: the ego ideal and the conscience. The ego ideal is the general idea one has of how to behave to be classified as an upstanding member of society; it includes norms, rules and standards for good

The methods he used to obtain his information and data raised questions by other scientists. His research on children was lacking, as was his use of empirical studies, his research was male-dominated and also lacked universality. The theory of the id, ego and superego develops from birth into childhood therefore the use of case studies on adults and the lack of empirical study does not seem feasible enough to have developed this theory. First of all there is no guarantee that the memories of these adults on their childhood would be accurate, there was not any factual, re-testable data so it lacked reliability and validity secondly each case and person’s experience is different and therefore cannot be use to determine the development of an entire population. Freud’s theory was further biased due to him overlooking social and environmental aspects, which prevent universality; he was a European man who researched other upper middle class Europeans whose everyday living and circumstances differed greatly from others in