Freud: Three Parts of the Human Mind: ID, Ego and the Superego
Freud, and later theorists, divided the human mind into three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id represents our primitive drives and instincts: the craving for food and nurturance and the quest for instant gratification. The id is basically like the "inner child." The superego is like the opposite of the id: the restraints on our desires, based on social norms, morals, and ethics. The internalized list of "thou shalts" and "thou shalt nots" can be classified as superego. The superego keeps the id in check. The ego balances the forces of id and superego. What we usually think of as "me" or the "self" is the ego. Our ego is who we present to the world. Ideally, the ego will fulfill the basic needs of the id while acknowledging external realities and the messages of the superego. However, the ego is often a battleground between the id and the superego, navigating between the usually conflicting desires of the two.
Reaction formation is a complex ego-reaction toward uncomfortable feelings or desires. Generally, a person forms a reaction against their inner instincts because those instincts go against accepted social norms and therefore are unacceptable to the superego. Reaction formation can also compensate for unconscious feelings of guilt. For example, if a person harbors racist feelings, he or she might go out of the way to make friends with African-Americans. Sublimation is the ego's attempt to channel potentially socially taboo behaviors and some id drives into acceptable behaviors. For example, the same person who argues with the spouse will instead go play basketball to take out the angry emotions, or go write a song. formation, sublimation, and denial are mechanisms of the ego. These are some of the ways the ego copes with the conflicts between superego and id. For example, when a person experiences a traumatic event, the memory of that event will often be
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Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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