Freud separated personality into 3 major components. The Id, the Ego, and the Superego. Freud believed that these forces worked to create a person's behavior. They interact with each other and eventually determined personality.
The Id: The id is the very immature component of personality. It operates only on the pleasure principal with no regard for anything else. One could say that it is completely instinctual. Freud referred to the id as the reservoir of psychic energy. It only consists of our basic biological needs. To eat, sleep, defecate, etc... The id is only a primary process thinker, so it is primitive, irrational, and illogical.
Example: Jack is walking down the street and he is very hungry. He only has an id so when he sees an apple pie cooling in a window, he takes it for himself.
The Superego: The superego is our morals, principals, and ethics. It considers the social standards for social behavior and guides us on what is right and wrong. The superego begins to develop between 3 and 5 years of age. It is mostly shaped by what we learn as young children from adults. Eventually we accept this training as a part of who we are. We put pressure on ourselves to live up to how we think we should behave.
Example: Jack is walking down the street and he is very hungry. He only has a superego so when he sees an apple pie cooling in a window, he does nothing. His superego tells him that it is someone's pie and that it is not acceptable to trespass on someones property and take their pie.
The Ego: The ego is the moderator between the ego and the superego. It operates on the reality principal. It makes the decisions that dictate behavior. The ego also considers social realities, norms, ediquette, rules, and customs when it makes a decision on how to behave. It seeks to delay gratification of the id's urges until appropriate outlets can be found. It uses secondary process thinking to avoid negative consequences from society.
Example: Using the examples from above, Jack's ego would tell him that he should not take the pie from the windowsill, but instead he can buy some pie right up the street at the local grocery store.
