Concept

Personality Structures in Freud's Psychosexual Theory of Development

  • id = a source of psychic energy that is ruled by the pleasure principle in order to receive the maximum amount of instant gratification (eating, drinking, comfort, etc.)
  • ego = the resulting thoughts and behaviors that try to mediate the desires of the id and the constraints from the outside world
  • superego = conscious thoughts that try to reconcile the sexual desires a child is having with what their parents deem as their standard of behavior (trying to avoid things like guilt)
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Updated 2025-10-09

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