id, ego, superego

            Freud's psychoanalytic theory grew out of his interaction with clients in psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic theory attempts to explain personality, motivation, and psychological disorders by focusing on the influence of early childhood experiences, on unconscious motives and conflicts, and on the methods people use to cope with these sexual and aggressive urges. Freud divided personality into three components: the id, ego, and superego. He saw a person's behavior as the outcome of interactions among these three components. .
             The id is the primitive, instinctive component of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle, which demands immediate gratification of its urges. Freud referred to the id as the reservoir of psychic energy. He meant that the id controls biological urges like eating and sleeping, which energize human behavior. The ego is the decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle, which seeks to delay gratification of the id's urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found. The ego mediates between the id and the external world. The ego considers social realities such as etiquette, rules, and customs in deciding how to behave. The ego engages in secondary-process thinking, which is relatively rational, realistic, and oriented toward problem solving. The superego is the moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about what represents right and wrong. .
             My id, ego, and superego are in constant battle all the time. In fact, every morning I must battle myself in order to get up. When my alarm wakes me up my id, operating on the pleasure principle, urges me to go back to the instant gratification of sleep. The ego, operating on the reality principle, points out that missing lecture will ruin my grade, making it impossible to transfer to a good university. My id assures me that I will be able to get the A that I need and suggests lying back down to dream about how jealous Andrew and Carlo will be about my A grade.