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The id is the primitive and instinctive component of personality. It consists of all the
inherited (i.e., biological) components of personality present at birth, including the
life instinct, Eros (powered by a source of energy called libido), and the death
instinct, Thanatos.
Eros – the overall goal of the life instinct is to preserve and reproduce (includes the
instincts to eat, drink have sex, etc.)
Thanatos – the death instinct is responsible for human destructiveness and
aggression.
The id is the impulsive 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 superego.
The id remains infantile in its function throughout a person's life and does not
change with time or experience. The id is not affected by reality, logic or the
everyday world, as it operates within the unconscious part of the mind.
The id wants what it wants. It wants it now and doesn’t care how it gets it. If the id
was hungry and walked into McDonald’s with its friends to find long lineups at each
of the tills, it might butt into the front of the line, grab someone else’s Big Mac off a
nearby table, or jump over the counter to grab a burger from the kitchen. Any of
these actions are going to have negative consequences that range from losing friends
(by embarrassing them) to being arrested.

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The ego is 'that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the
external world‘ (Freud, 1923, p. 25). As parents, teachers and others start to
put restrictions on the expression of id impulses, a part of the id develops into the
ego in order to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real world. The
ego is the decision-making component of personality. Ideally, the ego works by
reason, whereas the id is chaotic and unreasonable.
The ego operates according to the reality principle, working out realistic ways of
satisfying the id’s demands, often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid
negative consequences of society. The ego considers social realities and norms,
etiquette and rules in deciding how to behave.
Like the id, the ego seeks pleasure and avoids pain, but unlike the id, the ego is
concerned with devising a realistic strategy to obtain pleasure. The ego has no
concept of right or wrong; something is good simply if it achieves its end of
satisfying without causing harm to itself or the id.
If the ego was hungry and walked into McDonald’s with its friends to find long
lineups at each of the tills, it might go to the back of one of the lines to wait its turn
or leave the McDonald’s and go to another restaurant where the lines are shorter.

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The superego incorporates the values and morals of society which are learned from
one's parents and others. It develops around the age of 5 – 7 years as a part of the
ego evolves into the superego. The child internalizes the superego of the parents
rather than the parents actual behaviours (i.e., their talk rather than their walk).
The superego's function is to control the id's impulses, especially those which
society forbids, such as sex and aggression. It also has the function of persuading
the ego to turn to moralistic goals rather than simply realistic ones and to strive for
perfection.
The superego consists of two systems: The conscience and the ego ideal. The
conscience aspect of the superego reflects cultural prohibitions: what one ought not
to feel, be, or do (e.g., don’t kick your sister). The conscience can punish the ego
through causing feelings of guilt if the ego gives in to the id's demands (and kicks
the sister).
The ego ideal portion of the superego is composed of cultural aspirations: what one
should feel, be, or do (e.g., do give up your seat on the bus for an elderly person).
Behavior which falls short of the ego ideal may be punished by the superego
through guilt (if you leave the elderly person standing in the aisle). The superego
can also reward us through the ego ideal when we behave ‘properly’ (give up our
seat for the elderly person) by making us feel proud.
If the superego was hungry and walked into McDonald’s with its friends to find long
lineups at each of the tills, it might go to the back of one of the lines to wait its turn
and then turn over its burger to the homeless person sitting outside.

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The ego is often portrayed as a person with a devil on one shoulder (the id) and an
angel on the other shoulder (the superego).

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Often the ego is weak relative to the headstrong id, and the best the ego can do is
stay on, pointing the id in the right direction and claiming some credit at the end as
if the action were its own.
Freud made the analogy of the id being a horse while the ego is the rider. The ego is
'like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the
horse.‘ (Freud, 1923, p. 15).
Thus, one of the goals of Freud’s psychoanalytic therapy, is to help the client to
develop ego strength so that the client is able to make more reasoned choices and
avoid getting into trouble all of the time because of impulsive decision-making.
Note also that if a person’s ideal self sets too high a standard, then whatever the
person does will represent failure (perfectionism).