In Psychology I learned about Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. Psychoanalytic theory is Freud’s explanation of motivation, behavior, and disorders through the studying of childhood experiences, the unconscious mind, and sex and aggression. I discussed childhood experiences in a previous blog. In this blog, I will describe Freud’s personality structure, levels of awareness, and conflict created by sex and aggression.
According to Freud, personality structure is composed of three separate units: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. The Id “functions in the irrational and emotional part of the mind” (“Structure”). The Id operates according to the pleasure principle. This means that the Id demands immediate gratification of its desires. The Ego “functions with the rational part of the mind” and “develops out of growing awareness that you can’t always get what you want” (“Structure”). The Ego mediates between the Id and the Superego. The Ego operates according to the reality principle which delays gratification of Id urges until the situation is socially acceptable. The Superego is “an embodiment of parental and societal values” that “strives for perfection” and “stores and enforces rules” (“Structure”). Freud believed that these three personality structures are composed with different levels of awareness.
Freud was a huge advocator of how the unconscious mind shapes behavior. He created three levels of awareness: the conscious, the preconscious, and the subconscious. The conscious “includes only our current thinking processes and objects of attention” (“Freud’s Personality”). The preconscious “includes those things of which we are aware, but where we are not paying attention” (“Freud’s Personality”). Examples include your middle name or who you hung out with yesterday. The subconscious contains thoughts, memories, and desires that “are out of reach of the conscious mind” but still influence behavior (“Freud’s Personality”). Freud believed that “much behavior is driven directly from the subconscious mind” (“Freud’s Personality”). Freud believed the Id is subconscious and that the ego and superego work at all three levels of awareness. Because the Id wants immediate satisfaction, there is often conflict with the ego and superego.
Freud believed behavior is a result of internal conflicts. In addition, he believed that sexual and aggressive impulses have large consequences on behavior. This is because the “social standard” of sex and aggression is not definitive. People are not sure of what is acceptable. Because of the uncertainty, Freud believed that sex and aggression are the source of confusion and conflict. He also believed sex and aggression needs aren’t as easily satisfied as, per say, thirst or hunger. This upsets the Id because desires can’t be granted immediately. This further frustrates the mind. Because of this internal conflict, Freud targets sex and aggression as key components of shaping behavior.
Sources:
“Freud’s Personality Factors.” Web. 12 October 2010. <http://changingminds.org/explanations/personality/freud_personality.htm>
“Structure of Mind: Freud’s Id, Ego, & Superego.” Web. 12 October 2010. <http://wilderdom.com/personality/L8-4StructureMindIdEgoSuperego.html>
Picture Source:
“Sigmund Freud’s Personality Theory.” Web. 12 October 2010. <http://library.thinkquest.org/C004361/theoryfreud.html>
I suggest you change that illustration of the structural model of the mind. The Id is fully unconscious, and thus should be at the bottom of the picture and not spans out onto the conscious; the superego only occupies the unconscious and preconscious, while the ego is that which spans all three realms of the psyche.
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