15
4. Theories of Personality by Sigmund Freud a. Provinces of the Mind
According to Freud, personality is made up of three major systems. They are the id, ego, and superego.
“To Freud, the most primitive part of the mind was das Es
, or the “it”, which is almost always translated into English as id; a second
division was das Ich
, or the “I” translated as ego; and a final province was das
Uber-Ich,
or the “over-I”, which is rendered into English as superego.” Feist,
1988: 27. Each of these systems has its own function, properties, components, operating principles, dynamism and mechanism. The systems interact with the
three levels of mental life so that the ego can go into the various topography levels and have conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. The superego is both
preconscious and unconscious. The id is completely unconscious.
i. Id
The id is completely unconscious. The id has no contact with the reality; it is not change by the passage of the time or by the experience of the people. The
one o f the important function from the id is to get the pleasure. “The id has no
contact with reality, yet it strives constantly to reduce tension by satisfying basic desires.
“Because its sole function is to seek pleasure, we say that the id serves the
pleasure principle
” Feist, 1988:27. In the id, the children’s desire is unchanged for decades.
The id stands in direct opposition to the superego. The id is illogical and can satisfying the thoughts that conflicting with one another because the id is
16
unrealistic and pleasure seeking without regard whether it is appropriate or not. The id cannot distinguish between good and bad things.
These opposing desires are possible because the id has no morality; that is, it cannot make value judgment or distinguish between good and evil.
However, the id is not immoral, merely amoral. All of the id’s energy is spent for one purpose- to seek pleasure without regard for what is proper
or just Feist, 1988: 28.
Essentially, the id is primitive, chaotic, and inaccessible to consciousness, unchangeable, amoral, illogical, unorganized, and filled with energy received
from basic drives to the pleasure principle.
ii. Ego
The ego is only region of the mind that has contact with reality. The ego controlled by reality principle which tries to replace the pleasure principle of the
id. The ego can make decisions on the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. The ego is the mediator between the id and superego, trying to ensure that the
needs of both the id and the superego can feel satisfied. When performing its cognitive and intellectual functions, the ego must
take into consideration the incompatible but equally unrealistic demands of the id and the superego. In addition to these two tyrants, the ego must
serve a third master- the external world. Thus, the ego constantly tries to reconcile the blind, irrational, claims of the id and the superego with the
realistic demand of the external world. Finding itself surrounded on three sides by divergent and hostile forces, the ego reacts in a predictable
manner- it becomes anxious. It then uses repression and other defense mechanisms to defend itself against this anxiety Feist, 1988:29
The ego mediates between the id, superego and external world. The purpose is to find a balance between primitive drives and reality the ego devoid
of morality at this level while satisfying the id and superego. The defense
17
mechanisms of the ego are often used when id behavior conflicts with reality and either society’s morals, norms, and taboos.
The ego develops any strategies for handling the id’s unrealistic and unrelenting demands for the pleasure. Sometimes, the ego can control the
powerful and pleasure seeking for the id, but it loses control at the other time.
iii. Superego
The supere go includes the individual’s ego ideals, spiritual goals, and the
psychic agency commonly called conscience that criticizes and prohibits people’s drives, fantasies, feelings, and actions. The superego tends to stand in
opposition to the desire of the id because of their conflicting objectives. The superego acts as the conscience, maintaining our sense of morality and
proscription from taboos. In Freudian psychology, the superego, or above- I, represents the moral
and ideal aspects of personality and is guided by moralistic and idealistic principles as opposed to the pleasure principle of the id and the realistic
principle of the ego Feist, 1988:30
The superego has two subsystems, the conscience and the ego-ideal. The conscience result from experience with punishment for behavior and tell people
what people should not do. The ego-ideal develops from experience with rewards for behavior and tell people what we should do.
The superego watches closely over the ego, judging the actions and intentions. The guilt is the result when the ego acts or intents to act, contrary with
the moral standards of the superego. The superego dominates the personality through the guilt and inferior feeling. The inferior feeling arise when the ego is
18
unable to meet the supereg o’s standards of perfection. The guilt is a function of
conscience. These pictures are show about the relation between id, ego, and superego
according to Feist about province of the mind by Sigmund Freud. Id
Ego Superego
A pleasure seeking person dominated by the id
A guilt ridden or inferior feeling
person dominated by the superego
A psychologically healthy person dominated by the ego
19
The first picture, the superego does not grow. The id dominated a weak ego and a feeble superego. The ego cannot make the balance between the ego and
superego. Consequently, people who dominated by the id nearly constantly strives for his pleasure regardless of what is possible or proper. The second picture, the
superego dominated the personality at the feeling of guilt or inferiority and a weak ego. There will be many conflicts because the ego cannot make a balance and
cannot demand the superego and the id. The third picture, the ego dominated by the id and superego. It is healthy person because the id, ego, and superego operate
in harmony and with a minimum of conflict. The strong ego can demand both the id and superego. The id can control of both pleasure principle and the moralistic
principle. According to all of three pictures, the superego is separate with id because
the superego grows of the ego. The superego watches closely over the ego, supervise of the ego’s decision about actions and intentions. The circle of the ego
is connected with ego and superego because the ego must make the balance between the id and superego. The ego has no strength of its own, but the ego
borrows energy from the id.
b. Pleasure and the Id: Inhibition and the Ego
Kategori