Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory

There are many different theories of the human personality. I don't think anyone really knows for sure why we act the way we do. Who knows what really drives a killer or rapist. Who really knows what drives an obsessive compulsive individual. Of course there are many theories as to why people with these 'conditions' react in society the way they do. My favorite theory for explaining the human personality is Freud's.

Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory has been one of the most influential theories of our time. It breaks the human personality down into three critical parts: Id, Ego and Superego.

The Id is the most basic part and is present at birth. The Id functions with the pleasure principle. This means it tends to be a little animalistic. It can be irrational and illogical. The Ego works to maintain or control the Id. It operates on the reality principal and tries to keep the Id straight. The Ego makes a person have rational and realistic thoughts while interacting with others. The Superego is the conscience. It contains the principles and ideals of society. The Superego operates on idealism. It's goal is to inhibit the desires of the Id and convince the Ego to work towards more moral goals rather than realistic ones.

To give an example of how this theory works, take Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith walks into the grocery store and sees a very attractive woman winking at him and his Id thinks, "I'd like to go to that woman and make love to her in the middle of this store." The Ego then says, "wait, you can't do that in front of all these people, let's go to her house and do it there." The Superego then says, "wait, you can't do that, your married."

These three major parts develop sequentially. The Id is at birth and the Ego come later once a child understands reality and begins to act realistically with his\her environment and others. The Superego is developed last when the child learns moral values. There are several objections to this theory and it takes a lot of research to try and understand the human personality something that may never be done. Society constantly makes excuses for why we all do the things we do. Scientists make theories. I'm not sure which one would be more correct, however I would lean more toward scientists views.

References:
Hyde and DeLamater. Understanding Human Sexuality, 9^th edition. McGraw Hill Publishers (2006)