SIGMUND FREUD

Sigmund Freud - Analysis of Ego

Sigmund Freud - Analysis of Ego

Thesis Statement

There is a notion on the rise that psychoanalysis on EGO by Sigmund Freud is to an extent similar as contemporary social psychology today. As current social

Discussion

This part of the paper emphasizes on the point that Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis on Ego has linkage with the contemporary social psychology. However, there is no exact similarity or complete acceptance but there is linkage in-contrast of sexual instinct in social life. Sigmund Freud, the inventor of psychoanalysis, was born in Moravia, Czechoslovakia, in 1856. Freud published his first work of psychoanalysis, Studies in Hysteria (with Josef Breuer) in 1895, after a career in neurological research and medical practice.

In his work there were three components where he laid upon the main focus in which he highlighted the id, ego, and superego as three components of the mental apparatus. Mental life and behavior are thought to be determined by interactions among these three components and with the external environment. The id is the part of the mind concerned with immediate gratification of needs (e.g., eating, sex, comfort). The ego is the realistic part of the psyche (able to see practical limits). The superego is the moralizing part of the mind. Struggles for dominance between these three aspects of the human psyche lead to repression (the pushing of inappropriate thoughts and wishes out of consciousness), increased tension, and the shifting or relocation of energy to alternative targets within and outside the body. Moreover, the id, ego, and superego represent three parts of the self or identity: a hedonistic self, a public self, and a moral self. Freud used this tripartite model to explain gender identity, sexual orientation formation, personality types, and psychological disorders. Freud's model caused controversy because of its emphasis on sexual instinct. Despite the controversy, his work has demonstrated lasting value and has sparked numerous psychological theories. However, this is the reason that has laid upon the fact that psychoanalysis on ego is still considered in the contemporary social psychology.

Freud described how the id, ego, superego, and the child's environment (parents, older siblings) during this period of psychosexual growth play a central role in determining gender identity, sexual orientation, and which particular sexualized behaviors a person will employ in pursuit of releasing tension. However, a part of the id is transformed into the ego (or das Ich, German for “the I”), as the id is met with the realities of the external world and its inadequacies in bringing satisfaction.

According to Freud, the id sends libidinal energy to the newly formed ego so that the ego can find a target or a love object for its release. Under normal circumstances, the ego locates an external target; occasionally, however, the ego makes itself the love object (i.e., narcissism). The ego is conscious and perceptive, and it controls voluntary muscle movement. As such, it is responsible for remembering noxious stimuli, avoiding danger, and adapting to and acting on the environment to make it more ...