According to Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis, our personality is controlled by three aspects. They are:
- Id: It operates on the pleasure principle and demands immediate gratification of desires. It operates on primary process thinking where logical rules are not applied. It operates on two energies: Libido (sexual energy) and Thanatos (destructive energy).
- Ego: It operates on the reality principle and has better problem-solving abilities as compared to Id. Ego indulges in secondary process thinking and it knows how and when to satisfy desires.
- Superego: It internalizes the moral values of society (do’s and don’ts) and also includes the ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ we unknowingly learn from our role models. It helps us to control impulses coming from the Id and makes our behaviour less selfish and more virtuous. According to this theory, our reactions to situations depend upon the interaction of these three systems.