The Id, The Ego And The Superego, According To Sigmund Freud
Of all the theories developed by Sigmund Freud, that of It he I and the superego It is one of the most famous. According to its psychodynamic approach, each of these structures represents a psychic instance that, from our nervous system, leads us to pursue interests that clash with each other.
So, the Ithe I and the superegoare the concepts that Freud used to refer to the conflict and struggle of antagonistic forces that, according to him, govern our way of thinking and acting The objective of psychoanalysis was, therefore, to bring to light the true nature of the conflicts and blockages that according to Freud were at the basis of psychopathology. Let’s see in a little more detail what ideas were behind this theory.
The psychodynamic approach, which was born with Freud’s psychoanalysis, It is based on the idea that the psychic processes that occur in each person are defined by the existence of a conflict That’s where the term “dynamics” comes from, which expresses that constant succession of events by which one party tries to impose itself on the other. The concepts of the Id, the Ego and the Superego form the section of Freud’s theories in which this idea of ​​a clash between different psychic structures is most evident.
But let’s move away from such abstract terms. What is the basis of this struggle that according to Freud is waged in our heads in a fundamentally unconscious way? What interests and objectives are at stake according to the father of psychoanalysis? To answer these questions, it is first necessary to define what the Id, the Ego and the Superego are, the three entities that for Freud explain the personality of human beings through the way in which they fight among themselves.
Freud proposed that the Id or Id is the structure of the human psyche that appears first Unlike what happens with the Ego and the Superego, it is present from the moment we are born, and therefore during the first two years of our lives it is the one in charge throughout that period of time.
The It It moves from the principle of immediate pleasure , and that is why it fights to make the primary drives govern the person’s behavior, regardless of the medium or long-term consequences that this may entail. For this reason, the It is usually considered to be “the animal” or “instinctive” part of the human being.
2. The Self
This psychic instance would emerge from the age of two and, unlike the It, would be governed by the reality principle. That means that the Self is more outward focused , and leads us to think about the practical consequences of what we do and the problems that too uninhibited behavior can generate. This causes him to confront the It to appease the drives that emanate from it, for which he uses defense mechanisms.
In short, the Ego is, according to Sigmund Freud’s theory, the psychic agency that is responsible for ensuring that the force of the It does not take control of the body, leading us to catastrophic situations in the short term, and that the force of the Superego does not suffocate us. due to its restrictive nature. It is not simply an entity that limits the influence of the other two, but has its own agenda and interests and is governed by a different logic: that of pragmatics and survival.
The Superego would appear according to Freud from the age of 3, and It is a consequence of socialization (basically learned through parents) and the internalization of socially agreed norms. It is the psychic agency that ensures compliance with moral rules. That is why the Superego pushes to make great sacrifices and efforts in order to make one’s personality come as close as possible to the idea of ​​perfection and goodness.
Since the Id totally rejects the idea of ​​submission to morality and the Ego, despite trying to curb the drives, is also moved by selfish objectives focused on survival and the pragmatics of adapting to the environment, the Superego confronts both. For the father of psychoanalysis, the Superego makes sense in a context in which the influence of society forces us to adopt self-monitoring behaviors to avoid confrontations with others, although in the long run this influence goes far beyond this logic oriented towards socialization and becomes a fundamental element in the creation of the individual’s identity.
The balance between forces
Freud believed that all these parts of the psyche exist in all people and, in their own way, are an indispensable part of mental processes. However, he also believed that the struggle between the Id, the Ego and the Superego can sometimes generate decompensations that produce suffering and the appearance of psychopathologies, which is why an attempt should be made to rebalance the correlation of forces through psychoanalysis In fact, one of the characteristics of Freud’s theories is that they create a concept of mental health in which disorders are not the exception, but the norm; The most common are imbalances between these psychic instances, because mental problems remain implicit and latent in the internal struggle they maintain between them.
For example, if the Superego takes over, the repression of thoughts and emotions can become so excessive that nervous breakdowns periodically occur, something that was attributed for example to the cases of women with hysteria too attached to a rigid and deeply restrictive morality.
On the other hand, if the It predominated, this could give way to sociopathy an impulsivity that endangers both the person who experiences it and others, since the absolute priority is to urgently satisfy needs.
This concept of balance between forces completely permeated the work of Sigmund Freud, since he did not believe that there was a definitive solution to the confrontation between the three psychic instances: the healthiest people are not those in whom the Id, the Ego and the Superego have stopped fighting (an impossible thing, according to him), but those in which this fight causes less misfortunes.
It must be taken into account, however, that the impossibility of refuting Freud’s theories turns these three concepts into theoretical constructs of little use for current scientific psychology, partly due to the impact that Karl’s work had on the philosophy of science. Popper and his criticisms of psychoanalysis.
