top of page

Theory of Personality: ID, Ego, Superego

Freud suggests that the personality of a person is formed through three structures of the human mind: the ID, ego, and superego. The ID is an aspect of personality in which is unconscious and includes the instinctive behaviors. This is the only aspect that is present from birth. The ego deals mostly with reality. The ego develops from the ID and functions in the conscious, preconscious and unconscious mind. The superego holds all of our moral standards that are acquired by our parents and society. This aspect is responsible for making judgements.

The ID is the part of the mind where people think about naughty or "tempting" actions that shouldn't be supposed to be done. On the other hand, the superego is the part of the mind where the person is thinking about the morally correct thing to do in each situation. Finally, the ego is the balance of both and balances the mind of the person. People are different, so some may have a stronger ID and others may have a stronger superego depending on their personality.

bottom of page