Freud believed that the mind is mostly hidden. Our conscious awareness is like the part of an iceberg that floats above the surface. Beneath our awareness is the larger unconscious mind with its thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. Freud also used the analogy of the iceberg to explain three interacting systems of the mind: the id, ego, and superego.
The id is the unconscious psychic energy which constantly strives to satisfy basic drives to survive, reproduce, and aggress. The id operates on the pleasure principle; it seeks immediate gratification. The id is depicted totally underwater, since it is totally unconscious.
The ego is the executive mediator which operates on the reality principle, seeking to gratify the id’s impulses in realistic ways that will bring long-term pleasure. The ego is made up of our partly conscious perceptions, thoughts, judgments, and memories. It must mediate between the impulsive demands of the id and the restraining demands of the superego. The ego is mostly above the surface, but it also continues below the water since the ego operates both consciously and unconsciously.
The superego is internalized ideals or the voice of our moral compass (conscience) that forces the ego to consider not only the real but the ideal. The superego focuses on how we ought to behave, striving for perfection. The superego often opposes the id, so the ego must reconcile the two. The superego is shown partly above water, and mainly below water. The superego is preconscious, meaning outside awareness but accessible.
The id is totally unconscious, but the ego and superego operate both consciously and unconsciously. Unlike the parts of a frozen iceberg, however, the id, ego, and superego interact.
The id is the unconscious psychic energy which constantly strives to satisfy basic drives to survive, reproduce, and aggress. The id operates on the pleasure principle; it seeks immediate gratification. The id is depicted totally underwater, since it is totally unconscious.
The ego is the executive mediator which operates on the reality principle, seeking to gratify the id’s impulses in realistic ways that will bring long-term pleasure. The ego is made up of our partly conscious perceptions, thoughts, judgments, and memories. It must mediate between the impulsive demands of the id and the restraining demands of the superego. The ego is mostly above the surface, but it also continues below the water since the ego operates both consciously and unconsciously.
The superego is internalized ideals or the voice of our moral compass (conscience) that forces the ego to consider not only the real but the ideal. The superego focuses on how we ought to behave, striving for perfection. The superego often opposes the id, so the ego must reconcile the two. The superego is shown partly above water, and mainly below water. The superego is preconscious, meaning outside awareness but accessible.
The id is totally unconscious, but the ego and superego operate both consciously and unconsciously. Unlike the parts of a frozen iceberg, however, the id, ego, and superego interact.
According to Freud, children pass through a series of psychosexual stages, during which the id’s pleasure seeking energies focus on distinct pleasure-sensitive areas of the body known as erogenous zones. HE viewed these stages as an identification process where their personality forms.
Oral: 0-18 months
· Pleasure centers on the mouth—sucking, biting chewing
Anal: 18-36 months
· Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control
Phallic: 3-6 years
· Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with incestuous feelings
Latency: 6-puberty
· Dormant sexual feelings
Genital: puberty on
· Maturation of sexual interest
Freud presumed that our early childhood relations influence our developing identity, personality, and frailties. He believed that conflicts unresolved during earlier psychosexual stages could surface as maladaptive behavior in the adult years. At any point in the oral, anal, or phallic stages, strong conflict could fixate the person’s pleasure-seeking energies in that stage. A person may fixate at the oral stage if they were orally overindulged or deprived, for example by abrupt, early weaning. An oral fixation could lead to problems in adulthood such as passive dependence or exaggerated denial of dependence. These people may act tough or use biting sarcasm. People may even seek oral gratification by smoking or excessively eating.
Oral: 0-18 months
· Pleasure centers on the mouth—sucking, biting chewing
Anal: 18-36 months
· Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control
Phallic: 3-6 years
· Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with incestuous feelings
Latency: 6-puberty
· Dormant sexual feelings
Genital: puberty on
· Maturation of sexual interest
Freud presumed that our early childhood relations influence our developing identity, personality, and frailties. He believed that conflicts unresolved during earlier psychosexual stages could surface as maladaptive behavior in the adult years. At any point in the oral, anal, or phallic stages, strong conflict could fixate the person’s pleasure-seeking energies in that stage. A person may fixate at the oral stage if they were orally overindulged or deprived, for example by abrupt, early weaning. An oral fixation could lead to problems in adulthood such as passive dependence or exaggerated denial of dependence. These people may act tough or use biting sarcasm. People may even seek oral gratification by smoking or excessively eating.
n Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the ego uses protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality. These protective methods are known as defense mechanisms and they come in seven forms: repression, regression, reaction formation, projection, rationalization, displacement, and denial. They all function indirectly and unconsciously, reducing anxiety by disguising some threatening impulse.
In psychoanalytic theory, repression is the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness. Freud believed that repression underlies all the other defense mechanisms. Regression is the mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated. For example, a child anxious on his first day of school may regress to the oral comfort of thumb-sucking. Rationalization occurs when we unconsciously generate self-justifying explanations to hide from ourselves the real reasons for our actions. For example, an alcoholic may say he only drinks with his friends to be sociable. Displacement diverts sexual or aggressive impulses toward an object or person that is psychologically more acceptable than the one that aroused the feelings. A child may use displacement if instead of taking his anger out on his parents, he kicks the dog. Denial is when people refuse to believe or even perceive painful realities. If a loved one dies, a person may not believe or truly realize that the person is really dead until later.
In psychoanalytic theory, repression is the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness. Freud believed that repression underlies all the other defense mechanisms. Regression is the mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated. For example, a child anxious on his first day of school may regress to the oral comfort of thumb-sucking. Rationalization occurs when we unconsciously generate self-justifying explanations to hide from ourselves the real reasons for our actions. For example, an alcoholic may say he only drinks with his friends to be sociable. Displacement diverts sexual or aggressive impulses toward an object or person that is psychologically more acceptable than the one that aroused the feelings. A child may use displacement if instead of taking his anger out on his parents, he kicks the dog. Denial is when people refuse to believe or even perceive painful realities. If a loved one dies, a person may not believe or truly realize that the person is really dead until later.