The Theoretical Perspectives of Freud Research

The Theoretical Perspectives of Freud

Freud was "an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, who created an entirely new approach to the understanding of the human personality. He is regarded as one of the most influential - and controversial - minds of the 20th century. Freud developed the theory that humans have an unconscious in which sexual and aggressive impulses are in perpetual conflict for supremacy with the defences against them. In 1897, he began an intensive analysis of himself. In 1900, his major work 'The Interpretation of Dreams' was published in which Freud analysed dreams in terms of unconscious desires and experiences.  Although the medical establishment disagreed with many of his theories, a group of pupils and followers began to gather around Freud. In 1910, the International Psychoanalytic Association was founded with Carl Jung, a close associate of Freud's, as the president. Jung later broke with Freud and developed his own theories. After World War One, Freud spent less time in clinical observation and concentrated on the application of his theories to history, art, literature and anthropology. In 1923, he published 'The Ego and the Id', which suggested a new structural model of the mind, divided into the 'id, the 'ego' and the 'superego'. " (BBC, 2014)


'The Self' Theory. 

Freud is widely known to have created the psychoanalytic theory of personality, which argues that human behaviour is consequential of three component parts of the mine, the Id, the Ego and the Superego. This theory known as either 'The Self' Theory or as Freud's structural theory of personality, places a particular emphasis on the role of unconscious psychological conflicts in shaping an individual's  behaviour and personality. "Dynamic interactions among these fundamental parts of the mind are thought to progress through five psychosexual stages of development." (Lumen Learning, 
2013)

Freud's six stages of Psychosexual Development 


A YouTube Video Explaining Freud's Theory. (Shorts In Psychology, 2018)

The Id

What is the Id?

"The id is the primitive and instinctive
 component of the personality. It consists of all the inherited 
(i.e. biological) components of personality present at birth, including the sex 
(life) instinct- Eros (which contains the libido), and the aggressive (death) instinct- Thanatos" (Saul McLeod, 2019)

"The id is the impulsive (and unconscious) part of our psyche which responds directly and immediately to basic urges, needs, and desires. The personality of the newborn child is all id and only later does it develop an ego and super-ego.The id remains infantile in its function throughout a person's life and does not change with time or experience, as it is not in touch with the external world. The id is not affected by reality, logic or the everyday world, as it operates within the unconscious part of the mind.The id operates on the pleasure principle (Freud, 1920) which is the idea that every wishful impulse should be satisfied immediately, regardless of the consequences. When the id achieves its demands, we experience pleasure when it is denied we experience ‘unpleasure’ or tension.The id engages in primary process thinking, which is primitive, illogical, irrational, and fantasy oriented. This form of process thinking has no comprehension of objective reality, and is selfish and wishful in nature." (Saul McLeod, 2019)

The Ego 

What is the Ego?

"The Ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality. According to Freud, the ego develops from Id and ensures that the impulses of the Id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world. The ego functions in the conscious, preconscious and unconscious mind." (Kendra Cherry, 2019)

The second part of the personality, referred to by Freud as the ego, arises from the Id. The ego acknowledges and deals with reality, which ensures that the impulses and desires of the Id within the personality are repressed and expressed "in ways that are socially acceptable"(Cynthia Vinney, 2019).  The ego operates from the 'reality principle', which satisfies the id's desires in reasonable and realistic ways; the ego can do this in a variety of ways, such as delaying gratification or compromising, or any other way that avoids actions with a negative overall consequence. (Cynthia Vinney, 2019)

The Superego 

What is the Superego?

"The superego is the ethical component of the personality and 
provides the moral standards by which ego operates. The superego's
critisisms, prohibitions, and inhibitions form a person's conscience
and it's positive aspirations and ideals represents one's idealized 
self image, or 'ego' ideal." (The editors of Encyclopaedia Brittanica, 2017)

The third part of the personality, the superego, makes moral demands,  guide's an individual's spiritual impulses and aims for the individuals ideation of perfection. Freud believed that the superego acts as the persons conscience to meet societal and moral demands and develops primarily from parental instructions and rules, encouraging the person to strive for above their basic instincts and drives; it works in direct counterbalance with the Id. (Harwood, Miller and Vasta, 2008) This makes the superego the last third of a person's personality to develop; the "main concern of the superego is whether an action is right or wrong. The superego is not concerned with reality. Instead it seeks the ideal answer to a situation regardless of how practical it may be." (Lisa Roundy, 2018)

An example of the structure of the human psyche
according to Freud's Self Theory.


Bibliography
  • BBC History Editors, (2014),  Sigmund Freud (1956-1939), published by the British Broadcasting Company, available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/freud_sigmund.shtml
  • Cherry. K, (2019), Freud's Id, Ego and Superego, article published by Very Well Mind, available from: https://www.verywellmind.com/the-id-ego-and-superego-2795951
  • Editors of Encyclopaedia Brittainica, (2017), Humour, published by Encyclopaedia Brittanica Inc, available from: https://www.britannica.com/science/humor-ancient-physiology
  • Harwood,R., Miller, S.A., and Vasta, R. (2008) , Child Psychology: Development in a changing society, p.10 . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Lumen Learning Editors, (2013), Psychodynamic Perspectives on Personality, published online by Lumen Leaning Group, available from: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/psychodynamic-perspectives-on-personality/

  • McLeod. S, (2019) Id, Ego, Super Ego, published by simply psychology, available from https://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html
  • Shorts in Psychology Creators (2018), Freud's Structure of Personality Theory, published to YouTube, available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfrrl8_U1Ac
  • Roundy,S., (2018) The Superego: Definition & Explanation 
  • Vinney. C, (2019), Freud's Id, Ego and Superego Explained, article published by ThoughtCo, available from: https://www.thoughtco.com/id-ego-and-superego-4582342

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ISO, Aperture and Light

Image
ISO and Light settings in film. ISO refers to setting the film speed on your camera; 'being able to change the film speed on your camera lets you match the sensitivity of the light sensor to the amount of readily available light', the photographic angle, 2017. ISO not only affects the amount of light that is exposed to the image, but it also affects how much noise is in the final image and the quality of the image. In general, you should try to use lower ISO whilst filming, ranging between 200 ISO and 400 ISO. Whilst you can use ISO to adjust to poorer light conditions, this negatively affects the final quality, so alternative lighting should be considered in these instances rather than just increasing your iso; it is better to adjust your aperture and shutter speed to control how much light enters your camera. To demonstrate this, I decided to shoot both indoors and outdoors for around ten seconds. Outdoors, I used a low ISO at 100 to film due to high natural...
Read more

Different Types of Lighting

Image
Different Types of Lighting L ighting plays a key role in moving image; "Lighting is fundamental to film because it creates a visual mood, atmosphere, and sense of meaning to the audience"- David Lynch (2013). The correct use of lighting tells the audience where to look on the screen, can be indicative of the character's psych key and often contributes to the genre that the film is classified as. In the photography studio, we used a three point lighting set up with various different types of lighting to explore how this affected the atmosphere and mood of the footage. Rembrandt Lighting Rembrandt Lighting is a popular lighting set up named after the Dutch painter Rembrandt who used this particular style of lighting within his portraits int he 17th century. It is made up of one light source illuminating half of the face, and a triangle of light illuminating the other side of the face below the eye, known as a chiaroscuro. The light source must be higher than a...
Read more

Shoot Plan for 'Parallel' Music Video

In this post, I will outline my plans for each stage of shooting for my music video, detailing both the equipment that I will need in order to shoot, where the equipment will be used in each process and potential hazards that may present throughout this process and how I will be minimising the risk to myself and my actors. I will also explain my choices in location, costume and props within each stage within relation to my narrative and continuity within the production. Shoot One: The location for the first shoot is my own bedroom, this is due to ease of access and also as I feel that this room offers many different interesting aspects such as coloured LED lighting and psychedelic style art which relates the the theme of the music itself and the essence of UK Rave Culture whilst remaining the homely, haven-like space which many viewers would relate to in a bedroom. This in itself could cause issues as the room is quite small which means that there is limited space for me to work wi...
Read more