Term Paper on "Freud Sigmund"

Term Paper 3 pages (1019 words) Sources: 4 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Freud

Sigmund Freud, who is one of the earliest psychologists, theorized personality development derived from his theories of the id, ego and superego and which focused on the unconscious and subconscious as agents of human behavior. In addition, he suggested theories of neuroses involving childhood relationships to one's parents and emphasized the importance of sexuality in behavior (World Book Encyclopedia). Today, other forms of psychology other than psychoanalysis, which was begin by Freud, still rely on his teachings to combine the best of all types of therapy.

Freud believed that each personality has a three-prong psychological structure: the id, or the unconscious emotions, desires and fears that may surface in dreams or madness; the ego, or the conscious rationalizing section of the mind; and the superego, which often is compared to the conscience. Based on Freud's interpretation, an infant or toddler's behavior is largely based on id, or driven by unchecked and unquestioned desires; the ego develops from this id, allowing the child to negotiate effectively with the external world it is the arbiter between the selfish needs of the id and the idealistic demands of the superego; and the superego evolves as the child learns and accepts societal norms and values. Nye noted that this process, exemplifies a boy's connection with his father and suggests he internalize his father's values and norms. It also allows social functioning so that family and cultural values are passed on through the generations. Similarly, a young girl may unconsciously incorporate her mother's value system.

One of the key concepts that is included in the id, ego, superego theory is that the mind possesses several defense mechanisms that try to keep conflicts from becoming too harmful. These include repression (pushing conflicts back from the conscious to the unconscious), sublimation (converting sexual drives into socially acceptable goals), fixation (the lack of ability to progress beyond a developmental stage), and regression (a setback to an earlier form of behavior) Repression appears to be the most important of these defense mechanism. Freud states this importance as follows: When an individual experiences an instinctual desire to act in a way that the super-ego believes to be totally unacceptable, then the mind can mind push it away and send it back to the unconscious. Through repression the ego looks to avoid internal conflict and pain and balance reality with the demands of both id and super-ego (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

Likewise, is the importance of the ego personality structure as it relates to cognitive moral judgment and the development of values. Allen (2000), for example, stated that the ego has the ability to postpone providing pleasure to the id's demands until the right representative object is found to permit personal gratification without dangerous side effects. Allen also argued that this ego functioning takes place through conscious processes, which includes intellectual behavior such as reflection, evaluation, planning, and decision making. This more cognitive and mindful process for making moral judgments better represents Freud's ego prong, as well as the pivotal relationship between the functioning of ego and superego.

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