The superego

The superego is the last component of personality to develop in a person. Sigmund Freud argues that the superego begins to appear in a person at the age of five years during the phallic stage of psychosocial development. It is the personality aspect that holds all of the internalized moral ideals and standards that a person acquires from both their parents and the society. It provides the person with the sense of right and wrong and provides guidelines upon which a person can make judgment. He argues that the superego has two parts. The first is the ego ideal which includes the standards and rules for good behavior. The ideal is the picture of how a perfect human being should be by representing various aspects such as behavior, how to related to others, and career aspirations. These include the behaviors which are approved by parental or other authoritative figures. By obeying these rules, the person has feelings of pride, accomplishment, and value. Behavior which does not coincide with the ideal is punished by the superego though feelings of guilt or remorse. The second part is the conscience and it includes information about the things which are considered to be wrong by both the parents and the society. These are often forbidden behaviors and lead to negative consequences such as punishment or feelings of remorse and guilt Velleman, 1999()

Freud asserts that the superego serves to perfect our behavior and make it comply with the societal norms. It suppresses all unacceptable demands of the id by controlling the impulses of the id, especially those which are forbidden by the society such as aggression and sex and also strives to make the actions of the ego coincide with idealistic standards rather than the realistic principles by persuading the ego to turn to the more moralistic goals and to strive for perfection. Like the ego, the superego is present in the conscious, preconscious and unconscious states.

Sigmund Freud argues that the...

At the same time if the standards of the ideal are too high, the person will have high self-esteem through constantly fulfilling the demands of the ideal.
Interrelation between id, ego and superego

Freud argued that to duel these three forces that create internal conflict, a person needs to have good ego strength. Ego strength refers to the ability of the ego to function despite these forces. A person with good ego strength is able to manage these pressures effectively while those with little ego strength are often disrupted or unyielding to the forces. Therefore, according to Sigmund Freud, the key to a healthy personality is the person creating a balance between the id, ego and superego.

Conclusion

There are three major competing forces in a person which cause internal conflict in a person. These are the id, ego and superego. According to Freud, each of these elements plays a role in shaping a person's personality and they interact to create the personality of a person and it is only by creating a balance between the elements that a person can build a healthy personality.