the id - is the primitive, basic, and fully unconscious part of personality. It contains all of the unconscious energy that is directed toward fulfilling a person's most basic needs.
the ego - is a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance.
the super ego - is to suppress entirely any urges or desires of the id that are considered wrong or socially unacceptable.
Not that I am as smart, clever, or as well-educated and experienced as Freud, but there are some issues with his analysis that have always bothered me.
It is easy to accept his definition of the ID and EGO as they both seem to be rather straightforward and do not require a whole of effort on the individual's part to display.
However, the SUPER EGO is not that straightforward as a person's definition of right and wrong and what is or is not socially acceptable is going to be different. To me, this means that the super ego is going to be different in every person. Now, if the super ego is different in every person then it should also stand to reason that the ID and the EGO would be different as well.
Another issue is with the ID. In all babies, the ID operates the same... it is not different, in that when a baby is hungry the baby cries.
As a child grows, the ID realizes that crying no longer works. But, is that the ID or is it the EGO that is regulating the primitive conditions of the ID?
Freud's analysis has been so popular that we just accept it as being the way it is for everyone. I am not sure if these three components of one's personality are real.
One's personality can change over time as one ages, but the primitive side of that individual is still there... for example, when a wife learns her child or husband has been killed, she yells out like an animal. Is that the super ego allowing the ID to control actions, or is that simple a grief response?
Constant pain can also cause someone's ID to take control over their personality and the super ego does not seem to care because it is allowed to happen. So, why then did the super ego back off?
Personality is a complex issue that is influenced by factors both within as well as outside our ability to control.
Another issue is how does the SUPER EGO know when something that was not socially acceptable becomes socially acceptable. Who or what tells the super ego to change because society has changed?
What in the personality has changed that informs a man that he is now a woman instead of a man and that his EGO or self-esteem should change?
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