![]() ![]() In large part it is this structure and the clinical phenomena that it elucidates that caused Freud to develop his structural model in the first place. The superego was the third structure of the mind in Freud's structural theory. In this way, the moral standards of society are transmitted from one generation to the next.Īlan Sugarman, in Encyclopedia of Psychotherapy, 2002 V. Through identification, parents’ values become the ideals and aspirations of their children. Motivated by love, fear, and admiration, children actively imitate their parents’ characteristics and internalize their parents’ values. The superego is developed through a process called identification. When a child thinks about behaving in a morally unacceptable way, the superego sends a warning by producing feelings of anxiety and guilt. It is often just as illogical and unrelenting in its search for proper behavior as the id is in its search for pleasure. Other theorists have suggested that the roots of the superego emerge in infancy as the child becomes differentiated from the caregiver and aware of the possibility of disrupting the close bond with this loving object ( Klein, 1948).īecause it is formed during early childhood, the superego tends to be harsh and unrealistic in its demands. Freud’s work led him to conclude that the superego does not begin to develop until the age of 5 or 6, and probably is not firmly established until several years later. The ego ideal, which includes ideas about what behaviors and thoughts are admirable, acceptable, and worthy of praise, carries out the rewarding function. The conscience, which includes ideas about which behaviors and thoughts are improper, unacceptable, and wrong, carries out the punishing function. The superego includes both a punishing and a rewarding function. Newman, in Theories of Adolescent Development, 2020 Superego
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