Ego may refer to several related concepts: Ego (Freudian), one of the three constructs in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche; Self-concept.
Table of contents
Alongside the life instincts came the death instincts—the death drive which Freud articulated relatively late in his career in "the hypothesis of a death instinct , the task of which is to lead organic life back into the inanimate state. Freud considered that "the id, the whole person The ego Latin for "I", [18] German: Ich [19] acts according to the reality principle ; i. An example would be to resist the urge to grab other people's belongings, but instead to purchase those items.
The ego is the organized part of the personality structure that includes defensive, perceptual, intellectual-cognitive, and executive functions. Conscious awareness resides in the ego, although not all of the operations of the ego are conscious. Originally, Freud used the word ego to mean a sense of self, but later revised it to mean a set of psychic functions such as judgment, tolerance, reality testing, control, planning, defense, synthesis of information, intellectual functioning, and memory.
It helps us to organize our thoughts and make sense of them and the world around us. The ego represents what may be called reason and common sense, in contrast to the id, which contains the passions Its main concern is with the individual's safety and allows some of the id's desires to be expressed, but only when consequences of these actions are marginal. It is said, however, that the ego seems to be more loyal to the id, preferring to gloss over the finer details of reality to minimize conflicts while pretending to have a regard for reality.
But the super-ego is constantly watching every one of the ego's moves and punishes it with feelings of guilt , anxiety , and inferiority. To overcome this the ego employs defense mechanisms. The defense mechanisms are not done so directly or consciously. They lessen the tension by covering up our impulses that are threatening.
Warszawa - E.G.O. Blanc und Fischer & Co. GmbH
Denial , displacement , intellectualisation , fantasy , compensation , projection , rationalization , reaction formation , regression , repression , and sublimation were the defense mechanisms Freud identified. However, his daughter Anna Freud clarified and identified the concepts of undoing , suppression , dissociation , idealization , identification , introjection , inversion, somatisation , splitting , and substitution. In a diagram of the Structural and Topographical Models of Mind , the ego is depicted to be half in the consciousness, while a quarter is in the preconscious and the other quarter lies in the unconscious.
In modern English, ego has many meanings. Ego development is known as the development of multiple processes, cognitive function, defenses, and interpersonal skills or to early adolescence when ego processes are emerged. The super-ego [28] German: Thus a child's super-ego is in fact constructed on the model not of its parents but of its parents' super-ego; the contents which fill it are the same and it becomes the vehicle of tradition and of all the time-resisting judgments of value which have propagated themselves in this manner from generation to generation. The super-ego aims for perfection.
Ego development
For example, for having extra-marital affairs. The super-ego works in contradiction to the id. The super-ego strives to act in a socially appropriate manner, whereas the id just wants instant self-gratification.
The super-ego controls our sense of right and wrong and guilt. It helps us fit into society by getting us to act in socially acceptable ways. The super-ego's demands often oppose the id's, so the ego sometimes has a hard time in reconciling the two. Freud's theory implies that the super-ego is a symbolic internalisation of the father figure and cultural regulations.
The super-ego tends to stand in opposition to the desires of the id because of their conflicting objectives, and its aggressiveness towards the ego. The super-ego acts as the conscience , maintaining our sense of morality and proscription from taboos. The super-ego and the ego are the product of two key factors: Freud described the super-ego and its relationship to the father figure and Oedipus complex thus:.
The super-ego retains the character of the father, while the more powerful the Oedipus complex was and the more rapidly it succumbed to repression under the influence of authority, religious teaching, schooling and reading , the stricter will be the domination of the super-ego over the ego later on—in the form of conscience or perhaps of an unconscious sense of guilt. The concept of super-ego and the Oedipus complex is subject to criticism for its perceived sexism.
Women, who are considered to be already castrated, do not identify with the father, and therefore, for Freud, "their super-ego is never so inexorable, so impersonal, so independent of its emotional origins as we require it to be in men Freud's earlier, topographical model of the mind had divided the mind into the three elements of conscious, preconscious , and unconscious.
The conscious contains events that we are aware of, preconscious is events that are in the process of becoming conscious, and unconscious include events that we are not aware of.
- Related Words!
- Ego - Wikipedia;
- Ego | Define Ego at leondumoulin.nl!
- Legal Information: How to Find It, How to Use It!
- CARACTACUS : PRECOR VENIA?
Although the id is unconscious by definition, the ego and the super-ego are both partly conscious and partly unconscious. What is more, with this new model Freud achieved a more systematic classification of mental disorder than had been available previously:. Transference neuroses correspond to a conflict between the ego and the id; narcissistic neuroses , to a conflict between the ego and the superego; and psychoses , to one between the ego and the external world.
Equally, Freud never abandoned the topographical division of conscious, preconscious, and unconscious, though as he noted ruefully "the three qualities of consciousness and the three provinces of the mental apparatus do not fall together into three peaceful couples The iceberg metaphor is a commonly used visual metaphor when attempting to relate the ego, id and superego with the conscious and unconscious mind.
In the iceberg metaphor the entire id and part of both the superego and the ego would be submerged in the underwater portion representing the unconscious mind. The remaining portions of the ego and superego would be displayed above water in the conscious mind area. The terms "id", "ego", and "super-ego" are not Freud's own. They are latinisations by his translator James Strachey.
Freud borrowed the term " das Es " from Georg Groddeck , a German physician to whose unconventional ideas Freud was much attracted Groddeck's translators render the term in English as "the It". Figures like Bruno Bettelheim have criticized the way "the English translations impeded students' efforts to gain a true understanding of Freud.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For other uses, see Ego disambiguation and ID disambiguation. Conflict , a necessary ingredient for the growth and maturity of the personality, is introduced. The ego comes to mediate between the superego and the id by building up what have been called defense mechanisms. Since the concept and structure of the ego were defined by Freud and explored by Carl Jung , other theorists have developed somewhat different conceptualizations of the ego. A strong ego is exhibited in the following characteristics: The person of strong ego can also resist immediate environmental and social pressure while contemplating and choosing an appropriate course, and strong ego is further characterized in the person who is not overwhelmed by his or her drives but instead can direct them into useful channels.
On the other hand, weakness of ego is characterized by such traits as impulsive or immediate behaviour, a sense of inferiority or an inferiority complex , a fragile sense of identity, unstable emotionality, and excessive vulnerability. Perception of reality and self can be distorted. In such cases the individual may be less capable of productive work, because energy is drained into the protection of unrealistic self-concepts, or the individual may be burdened by neurotic symptoms. Ego weakness also underlies the inflated sense of self, which can be associated with grandiosity and a superiority complex.
We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions.
Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article. Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Aug 29, See Article History. Learn More in these related Britannica articles: If this ego is regarded as individual in any way, the problem arises of how any other individual can be as other because it is constituted in this primal ego. But there is no such ego detached from the world and filled with ideas or representations, according to Heidegger.
In Being and Time , Heidegger returned to the original formulation of the phenomenological project as a return to the things themselves. During infancy and childhood, the ego, which is the reality-oriented portion of the personality, develops to balance and complement the id.
Id, ego and super-ego
The ego utilizes a variety of conscious and unconscious mental processes to try to satisfy id instincts while also trying to maintain the individual comfortably in relation to the…. As it posits itself,…. To appeal to the ego, the skilled propagandist will present the acts and thoughts that he desires to induce as if they were rational, advisable, wise, prudent, and expedient; in the same breath he says or implies that they are sure…. Early life and career In continental philosophy: Types of philosophical idealism Heidegger In epistemology: Continental epistemology Husserl and Existentialism In metaphysics: The Existentialists Kantianism In Kantianism: Early life and career.
Toward a general theory human behaviour In human behaviour: Psychoanalytic theories appeal of propaganda In propaganda: Selection and presentation of symbols View More. Help us improve this article!