PSYC 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Reality Principle, Erogenous Zone, Psychosexual Development
Document Summary
According to freud, personality emerges from interplay between id, ego and superego in each individual. Conflicts between the divisions of the mind are resolved by ego defense mechanisms. Personality develops in childhood as the individual passes through the stages of psychosexual development. Conscious mind is the superego and ego (what we are aware of on a daily basis) Unconscious mind is the lower half of ego, id and primal drives. The id follows the pleasure principle, a desire to seek pleasure and avoid pain at all cost. Demands satisfaction of basic drives such as sex, hunger, and thirst. The ego follows the reality principle, a desire to reconcile the id with the demands of the superego (customs, morals, laws) Concerned with assuring the safety and functioning of the individual and allowing him/her to delay pleasurable gratification until an appropriate time. The ego must balance the persistent wants of the id with the realities of the civilized world.
