The id seems to be the impulsive side of a person, and the ego is the controlling side that helps balance the impulsive acts of the id. The superego functions as the moral control in relation to the id and the ego. Give a real-life example of a person struggling with a frustrating problem and how the id, ego, and the superego would respond to the anxiety in this person

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANS: Students' answers will vary.
The id is the reservoir for the instincts and libido. Because the id is the reservoir of the instincts, it is vitally and directly related to the satisfaction of bodily needs. Reason or rationality is contained in Freud's second structure of personality, the ego, which is the rational master of the personality. Its purpose is not to thwart the impulses of the id but to help the id obtain the tension reduction it craves. Because the ego is aware of reality, however, it decides when and how the id instincts can best be satisfied. There is also a third set of forces—a powerful and largely unconscious set of dictates or beliefs—that we acquire in childhood: our ideas of right and wrong. Freud called it the superego.
For example, Jane would like to go dancing with two of her male friends (involves the id). However, she knows that using two boys for one date would create conflict (involves the ego); and she knows this might be socially wrong to do (involves the superego).