Psychoanalytic theory is the theory of personality organization and the dynamics of personality

development that guides psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology. It is founded
by the Austrian neurologist and physician Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Psychoanalytic theory is a
framework for understanding the impact of the unconscious on thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Freud
posited that most of what motivates individuals lies outside of their immediate awareness. Sigmund
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality development tells us that human personality is the result of
three different but fundamental structures – the id, the ego, and the superego. Psychoanalytic theory
concentrates on awareness levels combined with our experiences in early childhood that together can
form the basis of certain mental disorders. In the psychoanalytic approach, the focus is on the
unconscious mind rather than the conscious mind. It is built on the foundational idea that your behavior
is determined by experiences from your past that are lodged in your unconscious mind. To this day,
psychoanalytic theory and the practice of psychoanalysis continue to evolve in ways that support,
discard, and expand some of Freud’s original principles.

So, when we are talking about the Psychoanalytic Theory, of course it can’t be made without specific
functions. So what are the functions of a Psychoanalytic Theory?

Functions:

Psychoanalytic theory divides the psyche into three functions: the id—unconscious source of primitive
sexual, dependency, and aggressive impulses; the superego—subconsciously interjects societal mores,
setting standards to live by; and the ego—represents a sense of self and mediates between realities of
the moment and psychic needs and conflicts.

1. Id: Id is the primitive part of the mind that seeks immediate gratification of biological or
instinctual needs. The biological needs are the basic physical needs and while the instinctual
needs are the natural or unlearned needs, such as hunger, thirst, sex, etc. Id is the unconscious
part of the mind; that act instantaneously without giving much thought to what is right and
what is wrong.

Example: If you are an Id and passed through a boy holding his phone while playing Mobile Legends, the
immediate urge to get that phone will drive you to snatch it by any means, and we know that this is not
good and may lead to the conflict between the two of you. Thus, Id is the source of psychic energy, a
force that is behind all the mental forces. And that’s why, Id is also considered as devil thinking because
it forces us to do some unnecessary things in some situations.

2. Super-Ego: The Super-Ego is related to the social or the moral values that an individual
inculcates as he matures. It acts as an ethical constraint on behavior and helps an individual to
develop his conscience. As the individual grows in the society, he learns the cultural values and
the norms of the society which help him to differentiate between right and wrong.

Example: If you’re a super-ego and passed that boy playing mobile legends on his phone, it would not
snatch it, as it would know that snatching is bad and may lead to a quarrel. This is the good thing for a
Super-ego because it indicates what is right and what is wrong. It always force your mind to do the right
thing instead of a bad one. But if the Id is stronger than super-ego, you will definitely snatch the phone
by any means.

3. Ego: Ego is the logical and the conscious part of the mind which is associated with the reality
principle. This means it balances the demands of Id and super-ego in the context of real life
situations.

Example: If you pass through the same boy playing with his phone, your ego will mediate the conflict
between the Id and super-ego and will decide to buy a new phone for you to play for yourself. That’s
why Ego is considered as the Reality. It may hurt your Id, but the Ego will always chooses the right thing
to avoid social conflict.

Hence, these are the fundamental structures of the mind, and there is always a conflict between these
three. The efforts to attain the balance between these defines the way we behave in the external
environment.

Freud originally identified three main principles, but later hypothesized a fourth. They are:

1. The pleasure principle. Governed by the id, this principle is the instinct to seek pleasure and
avoid pain. He sometimes called it Eros, after the Greek god of love, son of Aphrodite.

2. The morality principle. The domain of the superego, this principle is the moral rules we learn
from society.

3. The reality principle. The job of the ego is to judge the current reality and reach a decision based
on it. This principle is also characterized by delaying gratification in anticipation of the long-term
consequences.

4. Later, a “death principle” (or death drive, death instinct, etc.) was proposed by Sabina Spielrein,
and Freud added his own input on it in his essay Beyond the Pleasure Principle. Freud viewed
this as an instinct towards self-destruction. Later psychoanalytic theorists added that it could be
an instinct toward the destruction of other people, and also called it Thanatos, after the Greek
god of death.
At this juncture, allow me to indicate some of my personal experience with regards to the functions of
the Psychoanalytic Theory, which is the Id, Ego, and Super Ego.

Let’s start with the Id.

Yes I experience situations that is related or connected to ID. Before when I was a kid, I am very stupid.
One day I saw my classmates playing with their marbles happily. And because of my stupidness, my
mind dictates me that I should snatch their marbles. So I snatch it and then they got angry at me and
eventually it was the time that the social conflict have occur between us. After that, I am confused
about why did I do such thing. Until I face this topic of ours and I eventually understand why did I do it.
And I don’t believe that no one except me have done that thing just like I did years ago.

Second is the Super Ego.

I have many experiences in my life that I encounter Super-Ego or my Super-Ego have control me. One of
this experiences happened years ago when I was in junior high school. Back then, while walking down
the street, I saw cash on the ground laying. But instead of getting it, I walked towards the other way
because I know that taking the things of others without their permission is bad and their might be
something unusual that may happen if I get that cash because I am not the only one walking on the
street. That’s how unique the super-ego is.

Lastly is the Ego.

Ego is my favorite because it provides solution to any problems. Just like what happened to me couple
years ago. I walked towards a basketball court in our area and saw a ball on the ground with no owner.
But instead of getting it, I choose to buy a new one for myself because it is very good to play with the
ball that is all yours and I also imagine the things that may happen if I get that ball and the owner will
find it and knows that I am the one who stole it. Most probably, it will start a social conflict, so I follow
my mind and buy a new one for me.