Structures of personality

Structures of Personality
The ID, EGO, SUPEREGO

Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic
theory of personality, personality is
composed of three elements. These
three elements of personality are
known as the id, the ego and the
superego. They work together to
create complex human behaviors.

1. THE ID: functions in the irrational
and emotional part of the mind. At
birth a baby’s mind is all ID – want,
want, and want. The Id is the
primitive mind. It contains all the
basic needs and feelings. It is the
source for libido (psychic energy).

And it has only one rule, the
pleasure principle: I want it and I want
it all now. In transactional analysis,
Id equates to "Child".

2. THE EGO: functions with the rational
part of the mind. The Ego develops
out of growing awareness that you
can’t always get what you want. The
Ego relates to the real world and
operates via the reality principle.

The Ego realizes the need for
compromise and negotiates between
the Id and the Superego. The Ego's
job is to get the Id's pleasures but to
be reasonable and bear the long-term
consequences in mind. The Ego
denies both instant gratification and
pious delaying of gratification.

The term ego-strength is the term
used to refer to how well the ego
copes with these conflicting forces.
To undertake its work of planning,
thinking and controlling the Id, the
Ego uses some of the Id's libidinal
energy. In transactional analysis,
Ego equates to "Adult".

3. THE SUPEREGO: The Superego is
the last part of the mind to develop. It
might be called the moral part of the
mind. The Superego becomes an
embodiment of parental and societal
values. It stores and enforces rules.

It constantly strives for perfection,
even though this perfection ideal may
be quite far from reality or possibility.
Its power to enforce rules comes from
its ability to create anxiety. The
Superego has two subsystems: Ego
Ideal and Conscience.

The Ego Ideal provides rules for good
behavior, and standards of excellence
towards which the Ego must strive. The
Ego ideal is basically what the child’s
parents approve of or value.
The Conscience is the rules about
what constitute bad behavior. The
Conscience is basically all those things
that the child feels mum or dad will
disapprove of or punish.

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
Development

Development
Jean Piaget was a developmental
psychologist best known for his
theory of cognitive development. His
four stages of cognitive development
deal with the nature of knowledge
(epistemology - branch of philosophy
dealing with the origins nature and
extent of human knowledge
) and how humans come to gradually
acquire it.

1. Sensorimotor Stage. This stage
occurs between the ages of birth and
two years of age, as infants begin to
understand the information entering
their sense and their ability to interact
with the world.
Development

During this stage, the child learns
to manipulate objects although they
fail to understand the permanency of
these objects if they are not within
their current sensory perception.
In other words, once an object is
removed from the child’s view, he or
she is unable to understand that the
object still exists.
Development

2. Preoperational Stage. The second stage
begins after Object Permanency is
achieved and occurs between the ages
of two to seven years of age.
During this stage, the development of
language occurs at a rapid pace.
Children learn how to interact with their
environment in a more complex manner
through the use of words and images.
Development

3. Concrete Operations Stage. Occurring
between ages 7 and about 12, the third
stage of cognitive development is
marked by a gradual decrease in
centristic thought and the increased
ability to focus on more than one aspect
of a stimulus.
Development

They can understand the concept
of grouping, knowing that a small dog
and a large dog are still both dogs, or
that pennies, quarters, and dollar bills
are part of the bigger concept of
money.
Development

4. Formal Operations Stage. In the final
stage of cognitive development (from
age 12 and beyond), children begin to
develop a more abstract view of the
world. They are able to apply
reversibility and conservation to both
real and imagined situations.
Development

They also develop an increased
understanding of the world and the
idea of cause and effect. By the
teenage years, they are able to
develop their own theories about the
world. This stage is achieved by most
children, although failure to do so has
been associated with lower
intelligence.
Development

Development as a Life Long Process

Basic Trust vs. Mistrust
When the parents present
consistent, adequate, and nurturing
care, the child develops basic trust
and realizes that people are
dependable and the world can be a
safe place. The child develops a
sense of hope and confidence; this is
a belief that things will work out well
in the end.

Autonomy vs. Shame &
Doubt
If parents guide children gradually
and firmly, praise and accept
attempts to be independent,
autonomy develops. The result will be
a sense of will which helps us
accomplish and build self-esteem as
children and adults

Doubt
If parents are too permissive,
harsh, or demanding, the child can
feel defeated, and experience
extreme shame and doubt, and grow
up to engage in neurotic attempts to
regain feelings of control, power, and
competency.

Doubt
If the child is given no limits or
guidance, the child can fail to gain any
shame or doubt and be impulsive. Some
is good, as it causes us to question the
outcomes of our actions, and consider
others' well-being. This may also result in
Avoidance; if you never allow yourself to
be close to others, they can never make
you feel ashamed.

Initiative vs. Guilt
• The child becomes curious about
people and models adults.
• If parents are understanding and
supportive of a child's efforts to show
initiative, the child develops purpose,
and sets goals and acts in ways to
reach them.

Initiative vs. Guilt
If children are punished for
attempts to show initiative, they are
likely to develop a sense of guilt,
which in excess can lead to inhibition.
Too much purpose and no guilt
can lead to ruthlessness; the person
may achieve their goals without
caring who they step on in the
process.

Industry vs. Inferiority
Occurs during Latency, but
Erickson did not think this was a rest
period; the child begins school and
must tame imagination and impulses,
and please others. If adults support
the child's efforts, a sense of
competence develops.

Industry vs. Inferiority
If caretakers do not support the
child, feelings of inferiority are likely to
develop.
Too much inferiority, and inertia or
helplessness occurs (underachievers).
Too much competency and the child
becomes an adult too fast, and
develops either into a Histrionic or
Shallow person.

Identity vs. Role Confusion
Young adults attempt to develop
identity and ideas about strengths,
weaknesses, goals, occupations,
sexual identity, and gender roles.
Teens "try on" different identities,
going through an identity crisis, and
use their friends to reflect back to
them.

If they resolve this crisis, they
develop fidelity, "the ability to sustain
loyalties freely pledged in spite of the
inevitable contradictions of value
systems" (can be friends with very
different people).

If they fail to resolve the crisis, they
develop identity diffusion; their sense
of self is unstable and threatened; too
little identity and they may join cults or
hate groups, too much identity and
they may show fanaticism

Intimacy vs. Isolation
Intimacy is the ability to be close,
loving, and vulnerable with romances
and friends. It is based in part upon
identity development, in that you have
to know yourself to share it. The virtue
gained here is love.

Intimacy vs. Isolation
Failure to develop intimacy can
lead to promiscuity (getting too close
too quick and not sustaining it), or
exclusion (rejecting relationships and
those who have them)

Generativity vs. Stagnation
If you have a strong sense of
creativity, success, and of having
"made a mark" you develop
generativity, and are concerned with
the next generation; the virtue is called
care, and represents connection to
generations to come, and a love given
without expectations of a specific
return

Generativity vs. Stagnation
Adults that do not feel this develop a
sense of stagnation, are self-absorbed,
feel little connection to others, and
generally offer little to society; too much
stagnation can lead to rejectivity and a
failure to feel any sense of meaning (the
unresolved mid-life crises), and too much
generativity leads to overextension
(someone who has no time for
themselves because they are so busy)

Ego Integrity v. Despair
This entails facing the ending of
life, and accepting successes and
failures, ageing, and loss. People
develop ego integrity and accept their
lives if they succeed, and develop a
sense of wisdom a "detached concern
with life itself in the face of death itself"

Ego Integrity v. Despair
Those who do not feel a sense of
despair and dread their death; it's too
late to change their lives .Too much
wisdom leads to presumption, too
much despair to a disdain for life

Erikson's Theory of
Psychosocial Development

Structures of personality

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