EGO And Personality
The ego, a word that is arbitrarily used by mean, has a quite distinct
and
significant meaning. Ego development is an aspect of psychology that has
been
discussed by a number of authors and psychologist. Many different
authors have
concluded a variety of theories behind the ego and its many
stages and its
effects upon one’s personality. According to Zimbardo (1992)
Freud’s theory
showed that personality differences arise from the different
ways in which
people deal with their fundamental drives. To explain theses
differences, Freud
pictured a continuing battle between two antagonistic
parts of the personality,
the id and the superego. The id is conceived of as
the storehouse of the
fundamental drives. The superego is considered to be
the storehouse of an
individual’s values, including moral attitudes learned
from society. This
researcher, a supporter of Freudian psychology and
Freudian theory of
psychoanalysis, to be unbias will be difficult. This
researcher will try to
present both the supporters as well as the critics to
Freud’s theory of the
connection between the ego and personality as best
possible. One must not
evaluate or criticize Freud’s theories or to examine
them in comparison with
other theories unless one completely understands all
of the proposed
psychological theories. Zimbardo (1992) states that Freud’s
work assumes that
one’s personality is shaped and behavior is motivated by
powerful inner
forces. In addition, Zimbardo suggests that "...Freud’s theory
of
personality boldly attempts to explain the origins and course of
personality
development, the nature of the mind..." The total personality
consists of
three systems, the id, the ego, and the superego. In a mentally
healthy person,
the three systems work in harmony and unity together to form
one complete
organization. The harmony enables one to create positive
transactions with the
environment. On the other hand, if the systems are
fighting with each other, one
is said to be maladjusted and dissatisfied with
himself and with the world. The
function of the id is to provide for the
immediate discharge of quantities of
excitation, including energy or tension,
that are released in the person by
internal or external stimulation. The
earliest form of the id is a reflex system
that releases immediately by motor
pathways any sensory excitations reaching it.
Rickman (1957) states that
...when a very bright light falls upon the retina of
the eye, the eyelid
closes and light is prevented from reaching the retina.
Consequently, the
excitations that were produced in the nervous system by the
light quiet down
and the organism returns to a quiescent state. If all the
tensions that occur
in an organism could be alleviated by reflexes, then any
psychological
development beyond that of the simple reflex would be unnecessary
and not
needed. However, this is definitely not the case; an example is when
hunger
contractions appear in the stomach of a baby, the contractions do not
produce
food. Actually, they produce crying and restlessness, which indicates to
one
that the baby must be fed or over time, the baby would die from
starvation.
Through the schedules, training, and discipline, the baby
experiences some
degree of frustration and discomfort. All of these
experiences stimulate the
development of the id. The most used function of
the id, the primary process
produces a memory image of an object that is
needed to reduce a tension. In
addition, the id is more in touch with the
body and its processes than the
external world. The id cannot be modified or
changed with time like the ego and
the superego. Finally, as Frank (1995)
states "... the id is not governed
by laws of reason or logic, and it does
not possess values, ethics, or morality.
It is driven by one
consideration only, to obtain satisfaction for instinctual
needs in
accordance with the pleasure principle" Id must discharge in
action or
wish-fulfillment, or it must succumb to the influence of the ego.
The
transaction between the world and the person require the initiation of a
new
psychological system called the ego. In a well - adjusted individual, the
ego is
the executive of the personality, controlling and governing the id and
the
superego and the external world. Maladjustments and disharmony will
engage if
the ego abdicates too much of its power to the id, the superego, or
the external
world. The ego relies mostly on the relies mostly on the reality
principle,
which states that one’s actual need will exist but the discharge
of energy
must be postponed until the actual object that will satisfy the
need is found.
The ego must tolerate this tension on the meantime. In
order for one to find the
object or answer that will meet the need, one must
use the secondary process
consisting of thought and reason, cognition.
Finally, the ego may be thought of
as an intermediary between the id and the
superego (Novy 1993). The last system
of one’s personality is the superego,
which is the moral or judicial branch of
personality. The superego presents
the ideal rather than the real. The superego,
the moral code of a person,
develops from one’s ego as a result of what a
child assimilates as good and
bad based upon his parents’ standards. The
superego consists of two parts,
the ego-ideal and the conscience. The ego-ideal
is what a child believes his
parents consider to be good established by rewards,
and the conscience is
what a child believes his parents feel is morally bad
realized through
punishments. The superego will take on the roles of the parents
and society
by creating rewards and punishments such as feelings of pride or
feelings of
guilt or inferiority. Novy (1993) states that the ego becomes full
of pride
when it has behaved virtuously or thought virtuous thoughts, and it
feels
ashamed of itself when it has yielded to temptation. Finally, the
superego
places inner restraints upon lawlessness and anarchy enabling a
person to become
a law-abiding member of society. One’s personality is
constantly changing and
developing especially throughout the periods of
infancy, childhood, and
adolescence. The ego becomes more differentiated and
controls more of the
sources of energy. According to Novy (1993), "...
through elaboration of
behavior patterns, a proliferation of object-cathexis
in the form of interests
and attachments, and a development of the
psychological processes of perception,
memory, and thinking, one’s whole
personality becomes integrated " The
three structural systems and the
external worlds are better integrated and
unified. Through learning, one
develops greater skill in dealing with
frustrations and anxieties. Other
conditions that one is faced with include
maturation and learning, painful
excitations arising from internal conflicts,
and personal inadequacies
(Bellak 1983). The way in which one meets and attempts
to overcome and adjust
to there obstacles shape his personality. Five major
methods exist according
to Freud to deal with these frustrations, conflicts, and
anxieties. The
methods include identification, displacement, sublimation,
defense
mechanisms, and the transformation of instincts by fusion and
compromise.
Identification includes the formation of the ego and the
superego.
Identifications will be defined as the incorporation of the
qualities usually
those of another person into one’s personality. Adams and
Ascione (1993)
stated that for Erikson (1968), a healthy personality is based
upon active
control of one’s environment, autonomous and independent
functioning, and
similarity between what one wants to be and the acceptance
by significant others
of what one is and plans to become is viewed as a
positive identity resolution.
The more active form of identity that one
possesses results in a greater score
on locus of control, cognitive
development, and ego development measures (Adams
and Ascione 1993). According
to Loewenstein (1994), one might create a
"false self:" as a "...protective
but lifeless envelope shielding
and holding a hidden authentic core. The
false self develops in response to an
environment that is less than good
enough, one which dies not enable the child
to consolidate a stable ego."
Also, Loewenstein (1994) presents the
accepted idea that one tends to
identify with individuals that one admires,
respects, wants o be, or desires.
Through one’s development, he identifies
with many individuals including the
mother, the father, a lover, a baby sitter,
worker, etc. The motive force for
identification is provided by frustration,
inadequacy, and anxiety. The
development of one’s personality greatly involves
the displacement of a
energy from one object to another object. The source and
aim of the instinct
remain the same when energy is displaced; it is only the
goal object that
varies. A displacement will take either of two different
courses. First,
society acting through its principle agents, the parents,
influences the
direction of displacement by sanctioning certain object - choices
and
prohibiting others. Second, the degree of resemblance between the
original
and substitute object, or the extent to which the objects are
identified with
one another. This researcher believes that the ego controls
all aspects of
decision including which final object is selected after a
series of
displacements. An example of a series is when a boy/girl perceives
his
mother/father as an ideal person but then finds faults. Consequently,
the
individual will continue to look elsewhere for the ideal person. When
the
substitute is when that represents a higher cultural goal, this type
of
displacement is called a sublimation. Examples of sublimation are the
deflection
of energy into intellectual, humanitarian, cultural, and artistic
pursuits.
Sublimation does not always result in complete satisfaction
because as Freud
(1923) states "...that a person never actually relinquishes
his original
object-cathexis. A person is always looking for his first love
in the substitute
object; however, one must compensate for the original goal
object. This
researcher believes that the ability to displace energy from one
object to
another is the most powerful instrument for the development of
personality. If
psychological energy were not displaced and distributed,
there would be no
development of personality. A major threat of the ego is to
deal with the
threats and dangers that fall upon a person and stimulate
anxiety. The ego
attempts to resolve the conflict by adopting realistic
solving methods, or the
ego will deny, falsify, or distort reality and impede
personality development.
The latter methods are called defense
mechanisms.