Question

According to Freud, what are the three components of personality? What role does each of these components play? When and how does each component develop? Provide examples for how each component operates.

Answer 1

According to Freud, our personality develops from the interactions among what he proposed as the three fundamental structures of the human mind: the id, ego, and superego.

Id

• The id is the only component of personality that is present from birth.
• It is unconscious and includes the instinctive and primitive behaviors.
• According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality.

The Ego

• The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality.
• According to Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world.

The Superego

• The last component of personality to develop is the superego.
• The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society—our sense of right and wrong.
• According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age five.