Personality and Self Concept

A famous personality theory was developed by Sigmund Freud. This was named the psychoanalytic theory of personality. It consisted of three parts: the Id, Ego and Superego.

The Id

The id is the only component that is present from birth. This aspect of a persons personality is completely unconsicious and includes primitave and instinctive behaviours. The id is by principle pleasure or self gratification of all desires, wants and need. For example, a need to drink, will result in getting a drink.

Ego

According to Freud, the ego is a development from the id, and makes sure the actions of the ego is acceptable in society. The ego strives to satisfy the id's desires to be realistic and socially acceptable. The id's impulses can be satisfied through a process of delayed gratification, the ego will eventually allow the behaviour, but only in the correct time and place.

Superego

The superego is the part of a persons personality that holds all moral standards and ideals that we acquire through our parents and society, essentially our right and wrong. There are two parts to the superego: The ideal ego and the conscience.

Ideal ego: The rules and standards of good behaviour. These rules are approved by parents and other authority figures. Obeying these rules feels like a sense of accomplishment and achievement.

The conscience: Information about bad behaviour that is viewed as negative by parents and authority figures. These behaviours are forbidden and often lead to bad consequences.


According Freud, self concept is a social product developed through experience, it possesses boundly potential development and actualization. Due to past experiences, individuals may percieve themselves in a different light and others may see them. Also, individuals percieve themselves differently at certain times, therefore inner focusing is an available tool for counselling.



Research from William James (1890) argued that self concept derives from social comparisons with others. e.g. peers, family etc. However, Goffman (1959) saw self concept as reflecting social role experiences. e.g. mother, daughter, sister etc. which add facets to the view of oneself.




There are three sub headings under the idea of self concept:

Self Image: The kind of person we think we are. This usually comprises of social roles, body image and personality traits.

Ideal self: The kind of person we would like to be. This could be slightly or totlly different from our actual self. The larger the gap the lower our self esteem.

Self esteem: The extent to which we like ourselves, whether we accept or approve of our self image.