The structure of human personality according to Freud. Psychological view (PsyVision) - quizzes, educational materials, catalog of psychologists Personality structure in the teachings of Sigmund Freud

No movement has become as famous outside of psychology as Freudianism. This direction is named after Sigmund Freud (1856–1939). Based on many years of clinical observations, Freud formulated a psychological concept according to which the human psyche, the personality, consists of three components, levels: “It”, “I”, “Super-ego”. “It” is the unconscious part of the psyche. “It” is saturated with sexual energy – “libido”. A person is a closed energy system, the amount of energy in each person is a constant value. Being unconscious and irrational, “It” obeys the principle of pleasure, that is, pleasure and happiness are the main goals in human life. The second principle of behavior is homeostasis - the tendency to maintain approximate internal balance. The “I” level of consciousness is in a state of constant conflict with the “It” and suppresses sexual desires. The “I” is influenced by three forces: “It”, “Super-ego” and society, which makes its demands on a person. The “I” tries to establish harmony between them, obeying not the principle of pleasure, but the principle of reality. The “super-ego” serves as the bearer of moral standards. If the “I” makes a decision or takes an action to please the “It”, but in opposition to the “Super-I”, then it experiences punishment in the form of feelings of guilt, shame, and remorse. The “super-ego” does not allow instincts into the “I”, and then the energy of these instincts is sublimated, transformed, embodied in other forms of activity (creativity, work activity) as well as in dreams, slips of the tongue, slips of the tongue, jokes, puns. If libido energy does not find an outlet, then a person will have mental illness, neuroses, hysterics, and melancholy. To escape the conflict between “I” and “It,” psychological defenses are used: crowding out – involuntary elimination from consciousness of illicit thoughts, feelings, desires into the unconscious “It”; projection – an unconscious attempt to get rid of an obsessive desire or idea by attributing it to another person; rationalization - an unconscious attempt to justify an absurd idea.

78. Theory of sexual development 3. Freud

Features of sexual development in childhood determine the character, personality of an adult, his pathologies, neuroses, life problems and difficulties. According to Freud, psychosexual activity begins during breastfeeding, when the baby's mouth becomes an erogenous zone - a zone of pleasure (oral phase). With toilet training, the focus shifts first to the sensations associated with defecation (anal phase), and later to the sensations associated with urination (urethral phase). Finally, at about the age of four, these private drives unite, interest in the genitals, in the penis begins to predominate (phallic phase). At the same time, the Oedipus complex develops in boys or the Electra complex in girls, the essence of which is a predominantly positive attitude towards the parent of the opposite sex and aggressive behavior towards the parent of the same sex.

A delay in the development of libido at some stage with an inability to resolve the oedipal situation becomes the cause of psychoneuroses, sexual perversions and other forms of psychopathology. Freud and his followers developed a detailed, dynamic system in which various emotional and psychosomatic disorders are correlated with specific features of libidinal development and maturation.

In psychoanalysis (according to Freud), the task is: 1) to recreate from these specific manifestations a group of forces that cause painful pathological symptoms and unwanted inappropriate human behavior; 2) reconstruct a past traumatic event, release suppressed energy and use it for constructive purposes (sublimation), give this energy a new direction.

The disadvantage of Freudianism is the exaggeration of the role of the sexual sphere in the life and psyche of a person; a person is understood mainly as a biological sexual being who is in a state of continuous secret struggle with society, which forces him to suppress sexual desires.

Today, on the site website, you will learn what personality structure is in psychology according to Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Eric Berne, Frederick Perls and other outstanding psychoanalysts and psychotherapists.

A person’s personality is conventionally divided into subpersonalities, as if several internal “I”s - a unique, psychoanalytic Self-Concept. This was done for a better, almost visual understanding of the psychological structure of a person’s personality - its content and functions, and most importantly - for psychotherapy of personality disorders.

Orthodox psychoanalysis, which shows the structure of personality according to Freud, consists of three parts: consciousness, subconscious and unconscious.

Sigmund Freud's basic concept of personality structuring is the Super-Ego (Super-I), Ego (I) and Id (Id).

In essence, the Super-I is the social component of the personality, the Ego is the psychological, and the Id is the biological.

Super-Ego (Super-I)- this is “consciousness” that “lives” according to the principle of reality and censorship (carries out censorship according to moral and ethical standards). The superego serves to restrain the impulses of the ID (unconscious).

The super-ego, as part of the personality structure, is not innate, it develops in the process of parental education and primary socialization of the child (in kindergarten, school, among peers, etc.).

According to Freud, the Super-Ego has two substructures: Conscience and Ego-ideal (ideal Self). Conscience develops in a child through parental punishment, and the ideal-I through encouragement and approval.

All this is formed and fixed in the child’s personality through introjection (unconscious introduction into the psyche), based on the moral standards of parents and society.

Ego (I)- this is the “subconscious”, “living”, like the Super-Ego, according to the principle of reality and censorship, but the Ego censors not only desire impulses from the unconscious (ID), but also from the Super-Ego and from the external world.

EGO also represents logical, rational and realistic thinking associated with the cognitive and intellectual functions of the individual.

In other words, it is the EGO that decides when and what instincts can be satisfied, and is, as it were, an arbiter between the desires of the ID and the prohibitions (censorship) of the Super-Ego, thereby guiding human behavior.

Id (It)- this is entirely the “unconscious”, the area of ​​​​the Eros and Tonatos instincts (according to Freud, sexual, aggressive, destructive).

The “id” in the structure of a person’s personality “lives” and acts on the principle of pleasure; it is something dark, chaotic, primitive, not amenable to morality and requiring immediate release. The id (or id) stands between the psyche and somatics.

There are two mechanisms of the unconscious (Id) that allow you to relieve tension: reflex actions and primary processes.

Reflex actions of ID- this is an automatic response to influence (coughing, tears, etc.).

Primary processes ID- this is an irrational, fantasy form of ideas, hallucinatory fulfillment of desires (in dreams, daydreams).

When everything is normal for a person (there are no psycho-emotional problems), it means that the entire personality structure, according to Freud, works in harmony, and the Super-Ego, the Ego, and the ID “live” in harmony.

Mental illness or personality disorders occur when the ego is unable to control and regulate the activities of the ID and Superego.

The goal of psychoanalytic therapy is to give power (energy) to a weakened ego and bring harmony to the structure of a person’s personality, thereby relieving him of emotional, psychological, mental suffering and improving the quality of life and overall health.

Personality structure according to Jung^

Analytical psychology - it sets out the structure of personality according to Jung - this is the Ego, Personal unconscious, Collective unconscious.

Ego- this is the center of consciousness, part of the soul, including feelings, sensations, memories, thoughts, and everything that allows a person to feel his integrity and realize his identity.

Personal unconscious- this is the structure of the personality, which includes repressed (suppressed) memories, feelings, and experiences from consciousness.

Also, according to Jung, a person’s complexes are stored in the personal unconscious, which can seize control over the personality and control its behavior.

Collective unconscious is a place where ancient, hidden memories inherited from ancestors are stored. Because of this, the collective unconscious is universal, unlike the personal unconscious, which is individual.

Jung's main concept - which is why he actually disagreed with Freud - is precisely the collective unconscious, which lies in the structure of a person's personality and is presented in the form of archetypes (prototypes).

Archetypes, according to Jung, are universal, human patterns of perception that have a significant emotional element. For example, the archetypes of Mother, Energy, God, the archetype of Hero, Sage, Child, etc.

The main archetypes in the personality structure according to Jung

The main, main archetypes in the personality structure according to Jung are the Persona (Mask), Shadow, Anima and Animus, Self.

Persona (or Mask)- this is a person’s social role, his public personality, a mask that he unconsciously puts on in connection with the prevailing attitudes in society.

If the Ego is identified with the Persona, then the person ceases to be himself, playing someone else’s role all his life.

Shadow is the opposite personality archetype to Persona. The shadow is irrational, usually immoral, and contains impulses rejected in society (sometimes sexual, aggressive). Therefore, the energy of the Shadow is usually suppressed by the defense mechanisms of the psyche.

Often, people with a normal EGO direct this energy in the right, controlled direction. For example, in creative activities.

Both “Persona” and “Shadow” can manifest themselves in the personal unconscious and even in the Ego, for example, in the form of rejected thoughts or acceptable behavior in society.

Anima and Animus- an archetype associated with human bisexuality by nature. It reflects the feminine psychological principle in a man (Anima) and the masculine principle in a woman (Animus), i.e. in modern society one can notice masculine manifestations in women and feminine manifestations in men (this does not mean sexual orientation, although in case of serious violations there may be incorrect gender identification).

Self- the most important archetype in the personality structure - the center of the EGO (I). Essentially, this is an ideal that people unconsciously strive for, but rarely achieves.

Self - “God within us” - this archetype strives for integrity and unity (something similar can be seen in the religions of the East, this is a kind of perfection, typically represented in the images of Christ, Buddha...).

Through individuation, usually by mid-life (often when a midlife crisis sets in), a clear sense of Self can occur. It’s something like this...like a feeling of something distant, incomprehensible and unfamiliar and at the same time close, dear, well known...

Personality structure according to Bern^

Transactional analysis - personality structure according to Berne - is the division of the Ego (I) into three subpersonalities (I-states) - Parental Self, Adult Self and Child Self.

“Parent” (parental ego state “P”) is a repository of moral and ethical norms and rituals embedded in human behavior programs by parents and other educators, as well as society. The parent “lives” according to the principle of bias, obligation, requirements, prohibitions and permissions (“must-don’t”, “should-shouldn’t”, “obliged-not obliged”, “impossible-can”).

The Bernian Parent, like the Freudian Super-Ego, stores conscience and censorship, as well as stereotypical thinking, biases and deep-seated beliefs of a person. For the most part, all this is not realized and is included in a person’s thinking, feeling and behavior automatically.

The parental ego state can in some cases be blocked, which can make a person an immoral cynic.

“Adult” (adult I-state) “B”- this is the logical and rational part of the personality structure, capable of testing reality in the present time, making forecasts and adapting to the situation. An adult “lives” according to the principle of reality (“I can-can’t”, “possible-impossible”, “real-unreal”...).

In the case of “infection” (contamination) of the Adult Ego-state by the Parent, the Child, or both at once, a structural pathology of the personality is observed, which leads to various disorders, neuroses and problems in relationships.

For example, if an Adult is contaminated with a Child, then the person becomes infantile, unrestrained, with illusory thinking and not entirely adequate feeling and behavior.

If the Adult is “infected” by the Parent, then the person, for example, becomes rigid, mentoring, boring...

When the Adult ego state is contaminated by both the Parent and the Child at the same time, this leads to neuroses, psychological, emotional, cognitive and behavioral personality disorders.

In some people, the adult part of the personality may be blocked - this usually leads to psychotic disorders (psychosis) and pathologies.

“Child” (children’s ego state) “D”- this is part of the personality structure, which “lives” according to the principle of pleasure and emotions (“I want it or I don’t want it”).

Human spontaneity, intuition, creativity and creativity depend on the freedom of the Child. This childish part of the personality gives a person happiness, joy of life and closeness of communication and relationships.

But, with a weak Adult, the child’s I-state can also bring mental suffering due to unpredictability, lack of restraint, asociality...

Sometimes the Child can be blocked, then the person becomes insensitive, joyless, with emptiness in his soul, essentially a “robot”.

Personal structure according to Berne of the second order

R-3 (“Parent” in “Parent R-2”)- this is, in fact, one of the real parents (educators) of your real parent (mom, dad and other educators) - for you, grandmother, grandfather, preserved in the depths of the psyche.

More precisely, P-3 is a set of information (beliefs, thoughts, attitudes, behavioral strategies) inherited from your parents and educators (from your grandparents and other significant people).

B-3 (Adult in Parent P-2)- this is the Adult Ego state of your real grandparents.

D-3 (Child in Parent R-2)- this is a Child, the Childish ego-state of your ancestors (grandfathers, grandmothers...), preserved in your personality structure.

R-2 (Parent)- this is the same Parental Ego, but with a more in-depth analysis. Here are ego states introjected from real parents and educators.

B-2 (Adult)- this I-state is not divided... nothing enters into it...

D-2 (Child)- this, in fact, is who you are... only at the age of 3-5-7 years, with the automatic installations of your real parents introduced, and recorded in the structure of the second-order personality - deeper in the psyche.

P-1 (Parent in Child D-2)- this is a set of information, programs and attitudes (often inadequate and negative) transmitted to you unconsciously in the process of upbringing (parental programming of the life scenario) from “D-2” of your real parents and educators.

According to Bern, “P-1” is an “Electrode”, the essence of which is to “turn on” negative thoughts, feelings and behavior. Speaking in “computer language”, it is like a “Virus” that prevents a person from being happy, normal, adequately responding to situations in life, being himself and enjoying life.

Also, some analysts and psychotherapists call “P-1” the “Big Pig” (he plays tricks on us), the internal “Demon” (does all sorts of dirty tricks on us), the “internal enemy” (when we seem to harm ourselves and create problems) …and so on.

The main task of transactional analysis (SM) and psychotherapy, relatively speaking, is to detect the “P-1 virus” and neutralize it... (to make a person free from negative, illusory beliefs and beliefs, to get rid of harmful, accumulated emotions, and to teach a new, adequate situation , behavioral strategies).

B-1 (Adult in Child D-2)- this, according to Berne, is “The Little Professor”. This part of the personality develops by about 4-5 years (“the age of why”), and at this time the child actively explores the world, sometimes asking parents “difficult questions.”

It is this part of the personality that decides how you will live your life, what your destiny will be.

Also, in an adult, “B-1” serves as a source of intuition.

For example, if you smoke, overeat, overdrink...or otherwise harm yourself, if you have neurosis, fears, depression and other personality disorders, then in order to change your life for the better, it is not enough for you to realize the problem in the Adult ego state " V-2” - everyone already knows what is good and what is bad.

It is necessary for your “B-1” (Adult in the Child) to “understand” this and “make a new decision” - this is what psychotherapy and psychoanalysis are aimed at.

D-1 (Child in Child D-2)- this is you, only without any attitudes, convictions, beliefs and other “information garbage”. This is the natural, real Child within you.

That is, when you were born, this was “D-1”, which now, in adulthood, may be captivated by acquired beliefs, attitudes, thoughts and ideas. And if this Child in the Child is closed, then a priori the person cannot be happy.

In the process of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, this real Childhood I-state is freed from the oppression of “R-1” (B. Pig) and the person begins to grow personally, becomes himself, strengthens his life I-position... and... becomes happy..., “infecting "with this happiness and your loved ones...

The social nature of a person determines his ability to live in society and be part of it. The personality structure as such and the totality of the individual characteristics of a particular person provide him with the opportunity to be a subject of the sociocultural life of society.

Psychologists differ in their views and ideas about the content of the concept of “personality” and about the structure of personality. However, there are many very interesting theories that allow us to better understand the social nature of man and the peculiarities of the functioning of his psyche.

Personality and its properties

An individual is a single representative of the human race. When an individual begins to act as a subject of the sociocultural life of society, he becomes a personality. The structure of personality, its traits, properties and qualities “grow” on the characteristics of the individual’s psyche given at birth.

Personality is a set of stable psychological properties of an individual that determine his socially significant actions.

PERSONALITY PROPERTIES:

• Will is the ability to consciously control emotions and actions.
• Abilities are various personality properties necessary to carry out a particular activity.
• Motivation is a set of properties that determine and explain the direction of behavior.
• Temperament is a set of psychophysiological properties associated with the dynamics of mental processes.
• Character is a set of persistent properties that determine the characteristics of a person’s relationships and his behavior.

The concept of “personality” is used in everyday life when talking about a specific strong-willed, charismatic person respected by people.

Various personality theories

One of the most controversial issues in scientific psychology is the question of personality structure.

In order to understand the many different theories and definitions of personality structure, as well as to organize this knowledge, a classification of personality theories has been adopted on several grounds:

• By way of determining the causes of human behavior:

1. psychodynamic,
2. sociodynamic,
3. interactionist,
4. humanistic.

• By emphasis on the structure or dynamics of properties and qualities:

1. structural,
2. dynamic.

• According to the age range considered in the theory:

1. preschool and school age,
2. of all age periods.

There are other reasons for classifying personality theories. This diversity is caused by the lack of agreement in the views of different psychological movements and schools, which sometimes do not have any common points of intersection.

The most interesting and well-known personality theories:

• psychoanalytic theory of S. Freud;
• theory of personality traits by G. Allport and R. Cattell;
• E. Berne's theory of social roles;
• personality theory by A. Maslow;
• E. Erikson's personality theory.

Z. Freud is an outstanding scientist, the “father” of modern psychology, who turned people’s ideas about themselves and their own “I” upside down. Before him, it was generally accepted that the human psyche is his self-awareness and conscious activity.

S. Freud introduced the concept of “Unconscious” and developed the personality structure in the form of a three-component dynamic model. He formulated a psychodynamic theory, identified the stages of personality formation and defined them as psychosexual stages of development.

Psychoanalytic personality theory of S. Freud

The main emphasis and foundation of S. Freud's theory is his interpretation of unconscious mental processes and instincts as forces driving a person outside of his will and consciousness.

Natural desires and needs, coming into confrontation with morality and ethics, norms of behavior accepted in society, give rise to psychological and mental problems.

To solve such problems, S. Freud began to conduct a psychological analysis of the personal qualities and behavioral characteristics of his patients.

In psychoanalysis, the psychologist helps the client become aware of repressed desires and instincts through repeated experiences of traumatic events from childhood or the recent past, and uses methods of dream interpretation and free association.

Freud's personality structure includes three components:

• UNCONSCIOUS OR IT, Id (ID)

This component is present in a person from birth, as it includes instinctive, primitive forms of behavior. The unconscious is a source of psychic energy, the main, defining component of personality. The id pushes a person to immediately satisfy desires and needs and is guided by the principle of pleasure.

If instincts are not satisfied, nervousness, anxiety, and tension arise. If a person satisfies all his needs without taking into account the norms and rules accepted in society, his life activity is destructive. It is socially unacceptable to act instinctively, without thinking about the rationality and culture of your behavior.

According to Freud, there are two basic human instincts: the life instinct and the death instinct. The instinct of life includes forces that encourage a person to preserve and continue life and his family. The general name of these forces is Eros.

The death instinct is a group of forces of manifestation of aggression, cruelty, the desire to re-baptize life, destruction, death - Tonatos.

S. Freud considered the sexual instinct to be the main, fundamental and strongest. The powerful force of sexual instincts is Libido. Libido energy moves a person and finds release in sex.

These instincts are not conscious, but control the behavior of the individual.

• SUPERCONSCIOUSNESS OR SUPER-Ego, SUPER-EGO (SUPER-EGO)

Superconsciousness is morality, a system of moral norms and values, ethical principles that were instilled in the process of education and self-education, during socialization and adaptation in society. The super-ego is acquired, formed, and begins to manifest itself from the age of three, when the child learns to understand what “I” is, as well as what “good” and “bad” are.

Superconsciousness is a moral and ethical force. It includes conscience as the ability to critically perceive one’s thoughts and actions and the ego-ideal as rules of good behavior, restrictions, and standards of what is proper.

Parental guidance and control, developing into self-control, become idealistic ideas about “how it should be.” The voice of the parent/teacher/mentor that the child heard in childhood “transforms” into his own inner voice as the person grows up.

The super-ego stimulates a person to be conscientious, honest, sincere, to strive for spiritual values, development, self-realization, to experience guilt and shame for unworthy behavior.

• CONSCIOUSNESS OR I, EGO (EGO)

Freud's personality structure suggests that a person's ego is the part of the personality responsible for making decisions. The Conscious Ego seeks a compromise between the demands of the Id and the limitations of the Superego, which often act as opposing forces.

Consciousness ensures the safety and security of life by deciding to satisfy instincts in a socially acceptable form. It is Consciousness that perceives, feels, remembers, imagines, and reasons. It uses willpower and reason, trying to understand how and when it is better and more appropriate to satisfy a desire.

The ego is guided by the reality principle. Ways to protect the Ego from both the excessive influence of the Unconscious and the Super-Ego are called defense mechanisms of the psyche. They are designed to restrain the impulses of the Unconscious and pressure from the Superconscious.

Defense mechanisms protect the ego from psychological trauma, excessive experiences, anxieties, fears and other negative phenomena.

Z. Freud identified the following protective mechanisms:

1. Repression is the transition of traumatic memories into the realm of the Unconscious.
2. Projection is the attribution of unacceptable qualities, thoughts and feelings to other people.
3. Rationalization is an attempt to rationally explain and justify unwanted actions, thoughts or behavior.
4. Regression is a return to childhood behavior patterns.
5. Sublimation is the transformation of sexual instinct into socially acceptable behavior, more often creativity.
6. Denial is the inability to admit the obvious, stubborn insistence that one is wrong.
7. Isolation is the repression of strong emotions that took place in a traumatic situation (the situation is recognized, but simply as a fact).
8. Identification is the process of excessively getting used to a role or a traumatic situation, attributing non-existent qualities to oneself.
9. Substitution is the unconscious replacement of a traumatic situation or action with other real or fictitious events.
10. Compensation and overcompensation is the desire to make shortcomings invisible by developing advantages.

A person with a strong, developed Ego successfully maintains a balance between the Id and the Super-Ego and effectively resolves internal conflicts. A weak Ego is either weak-willed, too susceptible to the influence of driving forces, or rigid, too unyielding.

In both the first and second cases, the personality structure becomes unbalanced, harmony is disturbed, and psychological well-being is threatened.

The correct personality structure according to Freud presupposes a balance of all its components, harmony between the Ego, the Id and the Super-I.

PSYCHOLOGY

PERSONALITY STRUCTURE

ACCORDING TO Z. FREUD.

CONCEPT OF ABILITIES. TYPES OF ABILITIES.

Personality structure according to S. Freud

Introduction

In the history of spiritual culture and scientific creativity, it is hardly possible to find a teaching that would cause such sharp differences in assessments than the teaching of the Austrian psychiatrist and psychologist S. Freud. No movement has become as famous outside of psychology as Freudianism; its ideas influenced art, literature, medicine and other areas of science related to man.

The creator of this doctrine is often compared with Aristotle, Copernicus, Columbus, Magellan, Newton, Goethe, Darwin, Marx, Einstein, he is called a scientist and seer, the Socrates of our time, one of the great founders of modern social science, a genius in action who took the decisive step towards true understanding of the inner nature of man.

For the first time, with almost artistic power, he developed the dramatic elements inherent in man - this convulsive play of flickering in the twilight light of the subconscious, where an insignificant impulse reverberates with the most distant consequences and the past and the present are intertwined in the most amazing combinations - truly a whole world in the close circulation of the human body, boundless in its integrity and yet charming as a spectacle, in its incomprehensible pattern. And what is natural in a person - this is the decisive reinstallation of Freud's teaching - is in no way amenable to academic schematization, but can only be experienced, lived out together with him and known in the process of this experience, as uniquely characteristic of him.

The personality of a person is comprehended not with the help of frozen formulas, but exclusively from the imprints of the experiences sent to him by fate; therefore, all healing in the narrow sense of the word, all help in the moral sense presupposes, according to Freud, knowledge of the individual, but knowledge that is affirming, sympathetic, and because of this is truly complete

Therefore, respect for the individual, for this, in Goethe’s sense, “revealed secret” is for him the immutable beginning of all psychology and all mental healing, and Freud, like no one else, taught us to preserve this respect as a kind of moral law. Only thanks to him, thousands and hundreds of thousands learned about the vulnerability of the soul, especially the child’s, and in the face of the manifestations he revealed, they began to understand that any rough touch, any unceremonious penetration (often through just one word!) into this hypersensitive, endowed with the fatal power of recollection matter can be destroyed by fate and that, consequently, all sorts of thoughtless prohibitions, punishments, threats and coercive measures impose previously unknown responsibility on the punisher.

He invariably introduced into the consciousness of modern times - schools, churches, courtrooms - respect for the individual, even in the ways of his deviations from the norm, and with this deeper penetration into the soul he implanted in the world more foresight and forbearance.

The art of mutual understanding, this most important art in human relations, which can contribute to the emergence of the highest humanity, owes its development to Freud's teaching on personality much more than to any other method of our time; It was only thanks to him that the meaning of the individual, the unique value of every human soul, became clear to our era, in a new and real understanding.

Personality as a trinity

Freud's views can be divided into three areas - a method of treating functional mental illness, a theory of personality and a theory of society, while the core of the entire system is his views on the development and structure of human personality. His works illuminated the fundamental issues of the structure of the individual’s inner world, his motives and experiences, conflicts between his desires and sense of duty, the causes of mental breakdowns, and a person’s illusory ideas about himself and others.

The theory of personality developed by S. Freud presented man not as a rational being and aware of his behavior, but as a being in an eternal conflict, the origins of which lie in another, broader sphere of the psyche.

In general terms, the human psyche seems to Freud to be split into two opposing spheres of the conscious and unconscious, which are essential characteristics of the individual.

But in Freud’s personality structure, these spheres are not represented equally: he considered the unconscious to be the central component constituting the essence of the human psyche, and the conscious to be only a special authority that builds on top of the unconscious; The conscious owes its origin to the unconscious and crystallizes from it in the process of development of the psyche.

Although Freud's ideas about the structural levels of the human psyche changed throughout his theoretical work, the fundamental division into the spheres of the conscious and unconscious was preserved in one form or another in all the personality models he created.

However, in the early 1920s, Freud revised his conceptual model of mental life and introduced three basic structures into the anatomy of personality. This was called the structural model of personality, although Freud himself was inclined to consider them processes rather than structures.

The model of personality created by Freud appears as a combination of three elements that are in a certain subordination to each other: the conscious (“Super-Ego”), the preconscious (“I”) and the unconscious

(“It”), in which the basic structures of the personality are located.

In the unconscious layer there is one of the personality structures - “It”, which is actually the energetic basis of the personality.

The "id", in Freud's theory, refers to the primitive, instinctual and innate aspects of personality, such as sleep, eating, defecation, copulation and energizes our behavior. “It” has its central meaning for the individual throughout life, it does not have any restrictions, it is chaotic. Being the initial structure of the psyche, “It” expresses the primary principle of all human life - the immediate discharge of psychic energy produced by primary biological impulses, the restraint of which leads to tension in personal functioning.

Submitting to this principle and not knowing fear or anxiety, "It", in its pure manifestation, can pose a danger to the individual and society.

“It” - the unconscious (deep instinctive, mainly sexual and aggressive impulses), plays the main role in determining the behavior and state of a person. “It” contains innate unconscious instincts that strive for their satisfaction, for release and thus determine the activity of the subject.

Freud believed that there are two basic innate unconscious instincts - the life instinct and the death instinct, which are in an antagonistic relationship with each other, creating the basis for a fundamental, biological internal conflict. The lack of awareness of this conflict is due not only to the fact that the struggle between instincts usually occurs in the unconscious layer, but also to the fact that human behavior is usually caused by the simultaneous action of both of these forces.

From Freud's point of view, instincts are channels through which energy passes, shaping our activity. Libido, about which Freud himself and his students wrote so much, is that specific energy that is associated with the instinct of life. For the energy associated with the instinct of death and aggression, Freud did not give his own name, but constantly spoke about its existence. He also believed that the content of the unconscious is constantly expanding, since those aspirations and desires that a person could not, for one reason or another, realize in his activities are forced out into the unconscious, filling its content.

The second personality structure - “I”, according to Freud, is also innate and is located both in the conscious layer and in the preconscious. In this way, we can always become aware of our Self, although this may not be an easy task for us. If the content of “It” expands, then the content of “I,” on the contrary, narrows, since a child is born, according to Freud’s expression, with an “oceanic sense of self,” including the entire world around him. Over time, he begins to realize the boundary between himself and the world around him, begins to localize his “I” to his body, thus narrowing the volume of the “I”. The ego was called by Freud a secondary process, the “executive organ” of the personality, the area where intellectual processes of problem solving occur.

The third personality structure, the “Super-Ego,” is not innate; it is formed during the child’s life. The mechanism of its formation is identification with a close adult of the same sex, whose traits and qualities become the content of the “Super-I”. The “super-ego” is the last component of the developing personality, functionally meaning a system of values, norms and ethics that are reasonably compatible with those accepted in the environment of the individual. Being the moral and ethical force of the individual, the “Super-Ego” is a consequence of prolonged dependence on parents.

Next, the development function is taken over by society (school, peers, etc.). One can also consider the “Super-Ego” as an individual reflection of the “collective conscience” of society, although the values ​​of society can be distorted by the child’s perception.

Rationalization is associated with the desire of the “Super-Ego” to somehow control the current situation, giving it a respectable appearance. Therefore, a person, not realizing the real motives of his behavior, covers them up and explains them with invented, but morally acceptable motives. With projection, a person attributes to others the desires and feelings that he himself experiences. In the case when the subject to whom any feeling has been attributed confirms the projection made by his behavior, this protective mechanism operates quite successfully, since a person can recognize these feelings as real, valid, but external to him and not be afraid of them .

“Logic” of unconscious conflict

The three-component model of personality made it possible to differentiate the concept of
I and consciousness, interpret the I as an original mental reality and thereby as a factor playing its own role in the organization of behavior.

Freud emphasized that there is an unstable balance between these three personality structures, since not only their content, but also the directions of their development are opposite to each other.

The instincts contained in “It” strive for their own satisfaction, dictating to a person such desires that are practically impossible to fulfill in any society. The “super-ego,” which includes a person’s conscience, self-observation and ideals, warns him about the impossibility of realizing these desires and stands guard over compliance with the norms accepted in a given society.

Thus, the “I” becomes, as it were, an arena for the struggle of contradictory tendencies that are dictated by the “It” and the “Super-Ego”. This state of internal conflict in which a person constantly finds himself makes him a potential neurotic. Therefore, Freud constantly emphasized that there is no clear line between normality and pathology, and the constant tension people experience makes them potential neurotics. The ability to maintain one’s mental health depends on psychological defense mechanisms that help a person, if not prevent (since this is actually impossible), then at least mitigate the conflict between the “It” and the “Super-Ego”.

At first glance, it may even seem that it is I, this conscious beginning, that is the driving force that forces It to change the direction of its activity in accordance with the sanction-forming standards of social existence.

However, in the Freudian personality structure the situation is different: it is not the I who controls the Id, but on the contrary, the Id gradually, powerlessly dictates its conditions to the I.

As an obedient servant of the unconscious drives, the Freudian ego tries to maintain its good agreement with the id and the outside world. Since he does not always succeed in this, a new instance is formed in him - the Super-I or Ideal-I, which reigns over the I as conscience or an unconscious feeling of guilt.

In the Freudian model of personality, the Super-I is indicated as a higher being, reflecting commandments, social prohibitions, the power of parents and authorities. If the I is mainly a representative of the external world, then the Super-Ego acts in relation to it as a defender of the interests of the It.

According to its position and functions in the human psyche, the Super-Ego is called upon to carry out the sublimation of unconscious drives, that is, switching the socially unapproved impulse of the It into a socially acceptable impulse of the I, and in this sense, it seems to be in solidarity with the I in curbing the drives of the It. But in its content, the Freudian Super-Ego still turns out to be close and related to the It, since it is the heir of the Oedipus complex and, therefore, the expression of the most powerful movements of the It and its most important libidinal destinies.

The super-ego even opposes the ego as the confidant of the inner world of the id, which can lead to a conflict situation fraught with disturbances in the human psyche. Thus, the Freudian ego appears as an unhappy consciousness, which, like a locator, is forced to turn first in one direction or the other in order to find itself in friendly agreement with both the id and the superego.

Although Freud recognized the heredity and naturalness of the unconscious, subjectively he believed in the ability of awareness of the unconscious, which was most clearly expressed by him in the formula: Where the It was, there must be an I.

However, the most effective mechanism is what Freud called sublimation. This mechanism helps to direct the energy that is associated with sexual or aggressive aspirations in a different direction and to realize it, in particular, in artistic activity. The mechanism of sublimation is interpreted as the main source of creativity.

In principle, Freud considered culture a product of sublimation and from this point of view he considered works of art and scientific discoveries. This activity is most successful because it involves the complete realization of accumulated energy, catharsis or cleansing of a person from it. Libidinal energy, which is associated with the life instinct, is also the basis for the development of personality and human character.

Thus, in his view of personality, Freud shows that man is basically a biological being and all his activities are directed and organized by internal excitation to satisfy his instincts. But society, its interaction and organization is based on social norms, principles and rules, and in order to coexist in society, a person must replace the principle of pleasure with the principle of reality, which can subsequently lead to dissatisfaction and mental disorder. And knowing that energy does not disappear anywhere, but simply transforms into other types, we can receive a manifestation of aggression in exchange for a rejected feeling of love.

Personality structure in the mirror of Freud's psychoanalysis

Freud discovered that behind the veil of consciousness there is hidden a deep, “boiling” layer of powerful aspirations, drives, and desires that are not consciously realized by the individual. As an attending physician, he was faced with the fact that these unconscious experiences and motives can seriously burden life and even become the cause of neuropsychiatric diseases. This set him on a quest to find ways to free his patients from the conflicts between what their conscious minds were telling them and their hidden, blind, unconscious impulses. Thus was born the Freudian method of healing the soul, called psychoanalysis.

Freud uses the technical term “unconscious” in his psychoanalysis. In Freud's view, the conscious is not an exclusive category of mental activity, and in accordance with this, the unconscious does not seem to him to be a completely special or even subordinate category; on the contrary, he strongly emphasizes that all mental processes are at first unconscious acts; those of them that are realized are not of any special variety, but their transition into consciousness is a property coming from the outside, like light in relation to any object.

The unconscious is by no means a waste of mental life, but the original mental substance, and only a tiny fraction of it floats to the surface of consciousness. However, the most important part that does not come to light, the so-called unconscious, is by no means dead or devoid of dynamism. In fact, it influences our thinking and our feeling just as vividly and actively; it is, perhaps, even the most vital part of our spiritual substance. Therefore, anyone who does not take into account the participation of the unconscious will in all our decisions is mistaken, because he loses sight of the most significant factor of our internal tension.

Our life, in its entirety, does not develop freely on the principles of rationality, but is under constant pressure from the unconscious; Every moment a new wave from the abyss of a supposedly forgotten past invades our living life. Not at all to the majestic extent, as we mistakenly believe, our external behavior is subject to the waking will and calculations of the mind; Our lightning-fast decisions, sudden tremors that shake our fate, come from the dark clouds of the unconscious, from the depths of our instinctive life.

There, below, crowds blindly and randomly that which in the sphere of consciousness is delimited by clear categories of space and time; there the desires of a long-dead childhood, which we consider long buried, roam furiously, and from time to time break through, thirsty and hungry, into our lives; fear and horror, long forgotten by consciousness, rise their cries upward, along the wires of our nerves; the passions and lusts of our barbarian ancestors are intertwined with roots there, in the depths of our being.

From there, from the depths, our most personal actions arise, from the realm of the mysterious come sudden insights; Our strength is determined by another, higher force. There, in the depths, unknown to us, lives our original “I”, which our civilized “I” no longer knows or does not want to know; but suddenly it straightens up to its full height and breaks through the thin shell of culture; and then its instincts, primitive and indomitable, menacingly penetrate our blood, for the eternal will of the unconscious is to rise to the light, transform into consciousness and find a way out into action: “since I exist, I must be active.”

Every moment, no matter what word we utter, no matter what action we perform, we must suppress or, rather, push aside our unconscious instincts; our ethical or cultural sense has to tirelessly resist the barbaric desires of instincts. And - a magnificent picture first brought to life by Freud - our entire mental life is presented as an incessant and passionate, never ending struggle between conscious and unconscious will, between the responsibility of our actions and the irresponsibility of our instincts.

Freud was concerned with questions about the underlying mechanisms of personality functioning. It is important for him to understand the basis of human existence, the structural elements of the human psyche, the principles of development of an individual’s life activity and the motive of human behavior in the world around him. Therefore, psychoanalytic teaching focuses on man himself, on his deep basis, thanks to which the existence of all his life manifestations, both natural and spiritual, is realized.

Freud in no way turns away from ontological problems; he transfers them into the depths of the human being. The ontologization of human existence does not mean at all that, by placing the external world outside the brackets of psychoanalytic research, Freud thereby in no way correlates it with human life. He is not against discussions about the dependence of the human being on fate, on immutable necessity, on external reality. Moreover, Freud admits, for example, that “internal delays in ancient periods of human development arose from real external obstacles.”

However, he is not inclined to absolutize the influence of external conditions on a person, to consider them as the only determinants that determine the direction of an individual’s development and the forms of his behavior in life. While agreeing with those who recognize vital necessity as an important factor in human development, Freud at the same time believes that this should not “encourage us to deny the significance of internal tendencies of development if their influence can be demonstrated.” In his opinion, “the life behavior of an individual is explained by the interaction of organization and “fate,” internal and external forces.”

Therefore, he proceeds from the fact that, firstly, understanding of the external world is incomplete and insufficient unless the nature of the internal organization is first revealed, and, secondly, in its deep dimensions human existence is as real as the external world, and, therefore, the study of the human psyche should be based on educational methods, just as objective reality is studied by means of science.

Conclusion

The structural-functional analysis of personality led Freud to recognize the tragedy of human existence: complex relationships between various layers of personality, the principles of functioning of the human psyche, the desire for creation and destruction at the same time, the desire to continue life and go into oblivion - all this in Freud’s interpretation of man served as confirmation of those irreconcilable antagonistic relationships that supposedly exist from the moment of birth of a human being until the very last years of his life between consciousness and the unconscious, reason and passions.

Trying to survey the cultural and social institutions of humanity through the prism of mental processes, Freud starts from the personality model he created. He believes that the mechanisms of mental interaction between various levels of personality find their analogue in the social and cultural processes of society.

Since a person does not exist in isolation from other people, in his mental life there is always another with whom he comes into contact, to the extent that personality psychology, in the understanding of the founder of psychoanalysis, is at the same time social psychology.

Hence his conclusion that the psychoanalytic method can be used not only in the study of individual-personal, but also cultural-social problems, that is, he unjustifiably elevates this method to the rank of universal.

Freud considered the main and at the same time fatal problem of humanity to be the establishment of an appropriate balance between the unconscious drives of a person and the moral demands of culture, between the mental organization of the individual and the social organization of society.

The concept of abilities. Types of abilities

Introduction

The topic of abilities is still relevant today. The problem of abilities is constantly posed to a person by life. It has always been as important as it is exciting.

The concept of human abilities developed in connection with the general course of development of human thought and has long been the subject of philosophical consideration. Only in the second half of the 19th century. Empirical research into human abilities emerges and develops. However, having arisen in the era of capitalism, they served in many cases the interests of the ruling strata of capitalist society and substantiated the theory and practice of exploitation of workers. A person's abilities are not given directly in his introspection or experiences. We only conclude about them by correlating the level of mastery of an activity by one person with the level of its mastery by other people. At the same time, it turns out to be a necessary condition for identifying abilities to analyze a person’s living conditions, his training and upbringing, as well as his life experience in mastering this activity. In this regard, the problem of the relationship between innate and acquired abilities, hereditarily fixed and formed in the process of individual development, becomes especially important.

In solving the problem of abilities, it is necessary to proceed from the principle of the unity of man and the conditions of his life. A capable or incapable child should be considered not as a bearer of hidden mysterious capabilities that oppose the environment, but as a derivative of the unity of the individual and the conditions of his life and activity, the different influence of living conditions at different stages of the child’s development.

Determination of abilities

When they talk about a person’s abilities, they mean his capabilities in a particular activity. These opportunities lead to both significant success in mastering activities and high performance indicators. All other things being equal (level of preparedness, knowledge, skills, abilities, time spent, mental and physical effort), a capable person receives maximum results compared to less capable people.

The high achievements of a capable person are the result of the compliance of the complex of his neuropsychic properties with the requirements of his activity. Every activity is complex and multifaceted. It places different demands on a person’s mental and physical strength. If the existing system of personality traits meets these requirements, then the person is able to carry out activities successfully and at a high level. If there is no such correspondence, then the individual is found to be incapable of this type of activity. That is why the ability cannot be reduced to one property (good color discrimination, sense of proportion, ear for music, etc.). It is always a synthesis of the properties of the human personality.

Thus, ability can be defined as a synthesis of the properties of the human personality that meets the requirements of activity and ensures high achievements in it.

Observing schoolchildren, the teacher, not without reason, believes that some are more capable of learning, others are less capable. It happens that a student is capable of mathematics, but poorly expresses his thoughts in oral and written speech, or shows ability in languages, literature, and the humanities in general, but finds mathematics, physics, and the study of technology difficult for him.

Abilities are such mental qualities, thanks to which a person relatively easily acquires knowledge, skills and abilities.

successfully engages in any activity.

Abilities are not reduced to knowledge, skills and abilities, although they are manifested and developed on their basis. Therefore, one must be very careful and tactful in determining the abilities of students, so as not to mistake the child’s poor knowledge for his lack of abilities. Similar mistakes were sometimes made even in relation to future major scientists who, for some reason, did poorly at school. For the same reason, conclusions about abilities only on the basis of certain properties are invalid, which prove not low abilities, but a lack of knowledge.

Unlike character and all other personality properties, ability is a personality quality that exists only in relation to one or another, but necessarily certain activity.

Textbook of psychology by K.K. Platonova gives the following formulation to the concept of “ability”:

Abilities are a set of personality traits that determine the success of learning and improving in any activity.

A.V. Petrovsky, in his textbook on general psychology, gave the following definition of “ability.”

Abilities are those psychological characteristics of a person on which the success of acquiring knowledge, skills, and abilities depends, but which themselves cannot be reduced to the presence of this knowledge, skills, and abilities.

In relation to skills, abilities and knowledge, a person’s abilities act as a certain opportunity. Just as a grain thrown into the soil is only a possibility in relation to the ear that can grow from this grain, but only on the condition that the structure, composition and moisture of the soil, weather, etc. turn out to be favorable, human abilities are only a possibility to acquire knowledge and skills. Whether or not this knowledge and skills will be acquired, and whether the opportunity will turn into reality, depends on many conditions. The conditions include, for example, the following: will the surrounding people (in the family, school, work collective) be interested in the person mastering this knowledge and skills; how he will be trained, how his work will be organized, in which these skills will be needed and consolidated, etc.

Abilities are a possibility, and the required level of skill in a particular matter is a reality. The musical abilities revealed in a child are in no way a guarantee that the child will be a musician. In order for this to happen, special training, perseverance shown by the teacher and the child, good health, the presence of a musical instrument, notes and many other conditions are necessary, without which abilities can die out without developing.

Psychology, denying the identity of abilities and essential components of activity - knowledge, skills and abilities, emphasizes their unity. Abilities are revealed only in activity, and, moreover, only in such activity that cannot be carried out without the presence of these abilities.

It is impossible to talk about a person’s ability to draw if they have not tried to teach him to draw, if he has not acquired any skills necessary for visual activity. Only in the process of special training in drawing and painting can it be determined whether the student has abilities. This will be revealed in how quickly and easily he learns working techniques, color relationships, and learns to see beauty in the world around him.

Abilities are revealed not in knowledge, skills and abilities, as such, but in the dynamics of their acquisition, i.e. in how quickly, deeply, easily and firmly the process of mastering knowledge and skills that are essential for a given activity is carried out, other things being equal.

And it is here that the differences are revealed that give us the right to talk about abilities.

So, abilities are individual psychological characteristics of a person, which are the conditions for the successful implementation of a given activity and reveal differences in the dynamics of mastering the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for it. If a certain set of personality qualities meets the requirements of an activity that a person masters over time, and responds pedagogically to its mastery, then this gives grounds to conclude that he has the ability to perform this activity. And if another person, all other things being equal, cannot cope with the demands that an activity places on him, then this gives reason to assume that he lacks the corresponding psychological qualities, in other words, a lack of abilities.

Types of abilities

Just like character, abilities are not an independent substructure of personality, placed next to others, but a certain combination of its various properties.

The difference between character and abilities is that character is manifested in all types of activities, and abilities - only in one specific one. Until a person has begun a certain activity, he has only potential abilities to carry it out, which are properties of his personality, partially developed from his inclinations, but more shaped by his experience. But as soon as he begins this activity, his potential abilities become actual abilities, not only manifested, but also formed in this activity.

Various types of activities, differing in their nature, respectively

make different demands on the individual and his abilities. The peculiarities of these requirements are not only that in order to perform certain types of activities it is necessary to develop certain specific mental processes (for example, a certain type of sensations, sensorimotor coordination, emotional balance, wealth of imagination, distribution of attention, more developed verbal and logical thinking etc.), but also their complexes. Educational activities and most types of skilled labor impose a set of psychological demands on the individual. The difference in demands placed on the individual by activities is reflected in the classification of human abilities.

The most general classification of abilities is to divide them into two groups: general and special. Each of these groups is divided into elementary and complex, and within them specific types are distinguished.

All human abilities as mental phenomena can be divided into four groups.

Types of abilities are distinguished according to their focus, or specialization (general and special abilities).

General abilities are understood as such a system of individual-volitional properties of a person, which ensures relative ease and productivity in mastering knowledge and carrying out various types of activities. General abilities are a consequence of both rich natural talent and comprehensive development of the individual.

Special abilities are understood as such a system of personality properties that helps to achieve high results in any special field of activity, for example literary, visual, musical, stage, etc. Elementary general abilities inherent in all people, although in varying degrees of their expression , are the main forms of mental reflection: the ability to feel, perceive, think, experience, make and implement decisions and remember. After all, each elementary manifestation of these abilities is a corresponding action, performed with varying success: sensory, mental, volitional, mnestic - and can even become a corresponding skill.

Special elementary abilities are abilities that are no longer inherent in all people; they presuppose a certain expression of some qualitative aspects of mental processes.

The eye sensor is the ability to perceive, evaluate and compare with varying accuracy the sizes of visually perceived objects, the intervals between them and the distances to them, i.e. this is a certain quality

visual perception.

Musical ear is a certain quality of auditory perception, manifested in the ability to distinguish musical sounds and accurately reproduce them. Musical ear is one of the components of musical abilities. Special elementary abilities develop on the basis of inclinations during the learning process.

General complex abilities are the abilities for universal human activities: work, learning, play, communication with each other. They are inherent to one degree or another in all people. Each of the abilities included in this group represents a complex structure of personality properties.

Special complex abilities are inherent not only to varying degrees, but also not to all people at all. They are abilities for certain professional activities that arose during the history of human culture. These abilities are usually called pro.

The set of a number of abilities that determines a person’s particularly successful activity in a certain area and distinguishes him from other persons studying this activity or performing it in the same conditions is called giftedness.

A person’s abilities can be judged by observing the process of him performing new tasks in changed conditions, and the progress of mastering an activity. In practice, a student’s abilities can be judged by a combination of such indicators as the speed of the student’s progress in mastering the relevant activity, the qualitative level of his achievements, the propensity to engage in this activity, the ratio of academic performance and effort expended to achieve these results. The last indicator is very important to take into account, since one student may, for example, not do well because he studies very little independently in the subject, while another, who is doing well, may spend all his personal time approaching the subject. When studying a student’s professional abilities, the teacher must find out: firstly, to what extent the student has developed such character traits as hard work, organization, concentration, perseverance, endurance, self-criticism, self-control, which act as necessary conditions for achieving sustainable success in any mastered profession ; secondly, what are the professional interests and inclinations of the student (this is manifested in the desire for a thorough study of the profession in all details or, on the contrary, an indifferent attitude to what is learned, to successes and failures in completing tasks in the profession); thirdly, to what extent the student has developed the special elementary abilities necessary for this profession, what needs to be done to develop them or to develop personality traits that compensate for some of these abilities.

The idea that “every person is capable of anything” is wrong. It is true that “every person is capable of doing something useful for society.” Thus, a student who is not capable of being a high-altitude assembler, driver or automatic line adjuster can be not only capable, but also a talented machine operator, operator or cook.

Inability to perform a certain type of work activity is much more difficult than lack of ability. Inability as a negative ability is also a certain structure of the personality, which includes traits that are negative for a given activity.

Conclusion

In this test, I consolidated and expanded the theoretical knowledge acquired while studying the Psychology course.

I learned what is special about psychology as a science, and what makes it different from other sciences. Psychology is both a very old and a very young science. Having a thousand-year past, it is nevertheless still entirely in the future.

After analyzing the topic of abilities, I realized that the realization of an individual’s abilities is a decisive criterion for the level and development of society. The problem of human abilities is one of the main theoretical problems of psychology and the most important practical problem.

I came to the conclusion that abilities exist only for certain activities, and therefore, while it is unclear what kind of activity a person will engage in, nothing can be said about his abilities for this activity. Each person is individual and abilities reflect his character, inclination towards something or passion for something. But abilities depend on desire, constant training and improvement in any area. And if a person does not have a desire or passion for something, then abilities in this case cannot be developed.

It also cannot be said that every person is capable of everything. If he has the ability to draw, it is not at all necessary that he has an ear for music.

When developing his abilities, a person must strive to ensure that this development is not an end in itself. The main task is to be a worthy person, a useful member of society. Therefore, we must work on the formation of personality, on the formation of its positive and, above all, moral qualities. Abilities are only one side of a personality, one of its mental properties. If a talented person is morally unstable, then he cannot be considered a positive person. On the contrary, gifted people, distinguished by a high moral level, integrity, moral feelings and strong will, have brought and continue to bring great benefit to society.

List of sources and literature used

Literature

1. Bogoslovsky V.V., Kovalev A.G., Stepanov A.A. General psychology. M.: Education, 2008. 456 p.

2. Gonobolin F.N. Psychology - M: Education, 2006. 205 p.

3. Kazakov V.G., Kondratyeva L.L. Psychology - M: Higher School, 2010. 320 p.

4. Platonov K.K., Golubev G.G. Psychology - M.: Higher School, 2010. 210 p.

5. Petrovsky A.V. General psychology. M.: Education, 2006. 565 p.

Internet sources

It is safe to say that the origins of modern psychology are the views of the outstanding Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. He is rightly called the “father” of modern psychology. Central to the early description of personality in the views of S. Freud was the concept of unconscious mental processes. However, in the early 20s, Freud revised his conceptual model of mental life and introduced three structures into the anatomy of personality: id, ego and superego.

Eid

ID. The word “id” comes from the Latin “it” and, according to Freud, refers exclusively to the primitive, instinctual and innate aspects of personality. The id functions entirely in the unconscious and is closely related to the primary needs (food, sleep, defecation) that energize our behavior. According to Freud, the id is something dark, biological, chaotic, lawless, and not subject to rules. The id remains central to the individual throughout his life. Being the oldest original structure of the psyche, the id expresses the primary principle of all human life - the immediate outburst of psychic energy produced by biologically determined impulses (especially sexual and aggressive). The immediate release of tension is called pleasure principle. The id follows from this principle by expressing itself in an impulsive, selfish manner, without regard for consequences to others and contrary to self-preservation. In other words, the id can be compared to a blind king, whose brutal power and authority forces one to obey, but in order to exercise power, he is forced to rely on his subjects.

Freud described two mechanisms by which the id relieves the personality of tension: reflex actions and primary processes. In the first case, the id responds automatically to excitation signals and, thus, immediately relieves the tension caused by the stimulus. Examples of such innate reflex mechanisms are coughing in response to irritation of the upper respiratory tract and tears when a speck gets into the eye. However, it must be recognized that reflex actions do not always reduce the level of irritation or tension. Thus, not a single reflexive movement will allow a hungry child to get food. When reflex action fails to reduce tension, another function of the id, called the primary representational process, comes into play. The id forms a mental image of an object initially associated with the satisfaction of a basic need. In the example of a hungry child, this process may evoke an image of a mother's breast or a bottle of milk. Other examples of the primary process of representation are found in dreams, hallucinations, or psychoses.

Primary processes- an illogical, irrational and fantasy form of human ideas, characterized by the inability to suppress impulses and distinguish between the real and the unreal, “oneself” and “not oneself”. The difficulty of behavior in accordance with the primary process lies in the fact that the individual cannot distinguish between the actual object capable of satisfying the need and its image. For example, between water and the mirage of water for a person wandering through the desert. Therefore, Freud argued, it is an impossible task for the infant to learn to postpone the gratification of his primary needs. The capacity for delayed gratification first emerges when young children realize that there is an outside world beyond their own needs and desires. With the advent of this knowledge, a second personality structure, the ego, arises.

Ego

The ego (from the Latin “ego” - “I”) is a component of the mental apparatus responsible for decision making. The ego seeks to express and satisfy the desires of the id in accordance with the restrictions imposed by the external world. The ego receives its structure and function from the id, evolves from it, and borrows part of the energy of the id for its needs to meet the demands of social reality. Thus, the ego helps ensure the safety and self-preservation of the organism. For example, a hungry person in search of food must distinguish between the image of food that appears in the imagination and the image of food in reality. That is, a person must learn to obtain and consume food before the tension decreases. This goal makes a person learn, think, reason, perceive, decide, remember, etc. Accordingly, the ego uses cognitive and perceptual processes in its effort to satisfy the desires and needs of the id. Unlike the id, whose nature is expressed in the search for pleasure, the ego obeys reality principle, the purpose of which is to preserve the integrity of the organism by delaying the gratification of instincts until the moment when the opportunity to achieve discharge in a suitable way is found or appropriate conditions are found in the external environment.

Superego

In order for a person to function effectively in society, he must have a system of values, norms and ethics that are reasonably compatible with those accepted in his environment. All this is acquired through the process of “socialization”; in the language of the structural model of psychoanalysis - through the formation of the superego (from the Latin “super” - “super” and “ego” - “I”).

The superego is the last component of the developing personality. From Freud's point of view, the organism is not born with a superego. Rather, children must acquire it through interactions with parents, teachers, and other “formative” figures. Being a moral and ethical force, the superego is a consequence of the child's prolonged dependence on his parents. It begins to appear when the child begins to distinguish between “right” and “wrong” (around the ages of 3 to 5 years).

Freud divided the superego into two subsystems: conscience and ego-ideal. Conscience is acquired through parental discipline. It involves behavior that parents call “disobedient behavior” and for which the child is reprimanded. Conscience includes the ability for critical self-evaluation, the presence of moral prohibitions and the emergence of feelings of guilt. The rewarding aspect of the superego is the ego ideal. It is formed from what significant people approve of or value highly. And, if the goal is achieved, it evokes a feeling of self-respect and pride.

The superego is considered fully formed when parental control gives way to self-control. The superego, trying to completely inhibit any socially condemned impulses from the id, tries to direct a person to absolute perfection in thoughts, words and actions. That is, it tries to convince the ego of the superiority of idealistic goals over realistic ones.

Psychosexual stages of personality development

Psychoanalytic developmental theory is based on two premises. First, or genetic premise, emphasizes that early childhood experiences play a critical role in the formation of adult personality. Freud was convinced that the basic foundation of an individual's personality is laid at a very early age, before the age of five. The second premise is that a person is born with a certain amount of sexual energy (libido), which then goes through several stages of development. psychosexual stage, rooted in the instinctive processes of the body.

Freud has a hypothesis about four successive stages of personality development: oral, anal, phallic and genital. In the general scheme of development, Freud also included the latent period, which occurs between approximately 6-7 years of a child’s life and the onset of puberty. But, strictly speaking, the latent period is not a stage. The first three stages of development span ages from birth to five years and are called pregenital stages, since the genital area has not yet acquired a dominant role in the development of personality. The fourth stage coincides with the beginning of puberty. The names of the stages are based on the names of the areas of the body whose stimulation leads to a discharge of libidinal energy. The table describes the stages of psychosexual development according to Freud.

Stages of psychosexual development according to Freud

	Age period	Libido concentration zone	Tasks and experience appropriate for this level of development
Oral	0 -18 months	Mouth (sucking, chewing, biting)	Weaning (from the breast). Separating oneself from the mother's body
Anal		Anus (holding or pushing out feces)	Toilet training (self-control)
Phallic		Genitals (masturbation)	Identification with same-sex adults who serve as role models
Latent		Absent (sexual inactivity)	Expanding social contacts with peers
Genital	Puberty (puberty)	Genital organs (capacity for heterosexual relations)	Establishing intimate relationships or falling in love; making your labor contribution to society

Since Freud's emphasis was on biological factors, all stages are closely related to erogenous zones, that is, sensitive areas of the body that function as loci of expression of libidinal impulses. Erogenous zones include the ears, eyes, mouth (lips), breasts, anus and genitals.

The term “psychosexual” emphasizes that the main factor determining personality development is sexual instinct, progressing from one erogenous zone to another throughout a person’s life. According to Freud's theory, at each stage of development, a certain area of ​​the body strives for a certain object or action in order to produce pleasant tension. The social experience of an individual, as a rule, brings to each stage a certain long-term contribution in the form of acquired attitudes, traits and values.

The logic of Freud's theoretical constructions is based on two factors: frustration and overprotectiveness. In cases of frustration, the child's psychosexual needs (for example, sucking, biting and chewing) are suppressed by parents or caregivers and therefore are not optimally satisfied. If the parents are overprotective, the child is given few opportunities (or none at all) to manage his own internal functions (for example, to exercise control over excretory functions). For this reason, the child develops a feeling of dependence and incompetence. In any case, as Freud believed, the result is an excessive accumulation of libido, which subsequently, in adulthood, can be expressed in the form of “residual” behavior (character traits, values, attitudes) associated with the psychosexual stage at which frustration or overprotectiveness occurred .

Basic instincts of human behavior

Psychoanalytic theory is based on the idea that people are complex energy systems. In accordance with the achievements of physics and physiology of the 19th century, Freud believed that human behavior is activated by a single energy, according to the law of conservation of energy (that is, it can move from one state to another, but its quality remains the same). Freud took this general principle of nature, translated it into psychological terms, and concluded that the source of psychic energy is a neurophysiological state of excitation. He further postulated: each person has a certain limited amount of energy that fuels mental activity. According to Freud, mental images bodily needs expressed as desires are called instincts. Freud argued that all human activity (thinking, perception, memory and imagination) is determined by instincts.

Although the number of instincts may be unlimited, Freud recognized the existence of two main groups: instincts of life and death. The first group (under the general name Eros) includes all the forces that serve the purpose of maintaining vital processes and ensuring the reproduction of the human race. Recognizing the great importance of life instincts, Freud considered sexual instincts to be the most essential for personality development. The energy of sexual instincts is called libido (from the Latin “to want” or “to desire”).

Libido- this is a certain amount of mental energy that finds release exclusively in sexual behavior.

The second group is the death instincts, called Thanatos, - underlies all manifestations of cruelty, aggression, suicide and murder. Unlike the energy of libido, as the energy of the life instincts, the energy of the death instincts has not received a special name. He believed that the death instincts obey the principle of entropy (that is, the law of thermodynamics, according to which any energy system strives to maintain dynamic equilibrium). Referring to Schopenhauer, Freud stated: “The goal of life is death.”

Personality consists of three main systems: Id, Ego and Super-Ego. * Although each of these areas of personality has its own functions, properties, components, principles of action, dynamics and mechanisms, they interact so closely that it is difficult and even impossible to disentangle their lines influences and weigh their relative contributions to human behavior. Behavior almost always appears as a product of the interaction of these three systems; It is extremely rare that one of them functions without the other two.

*English translations from German and English-language psychoanalytic literature use the terms id, ego, and superego. – Editor's note.

It (Id)

It is the original system of the personality: it is the matrix in which the Ego and the Super-Ego are subsequently differentiated. It includes everything mental that is innate and present at birth, including instincts. It is a reservoir of psychic energy and provides energy for the other two systems. It is closely connected with bodily processes, from where it draws its energy. Freud called the id "true psychic reality" because it reflects the inner world of subjective experiences and is unaware of objective reality. (For a discussion of Ono, see Schur, 1966).

When the energy increases, It cannot withstand it, which is experienced as an uncomfortable state of tension. Therefore, when the body's tension level increases - either as a result of external stimulation or internal arousal - It acts in such a way as to immediately relieve the tension and return the body to a comfortable constant and low energy level. The principle of tension reduction, on the basis of which the It operates, is called the principle of pleasure.

In order to fulfill its task - to avoid pain, to gain pleasure - It has two processes. This is a reflex action and a primary process. Reflex actions are innate automatic reactions such as sneezing and blinking; they usually relieve tension immediately. The body is equipped with a number of such reflexes in order to cope with relatively simple forms of arousal. The primary process involves a more complex reaction. It tries to release energy by creating an image of the object, which will cause the energy to move. For example, the primary process will give a hungry person a mental image of food. A hallucinatory experience in which a desired object is represented as a memory image is called wish fulfillment. The best example of a primary process in a healthy person is the dream, which, according to Freud, always represents the fulfillment or attempted fulfillment of a wish. The hallucinations and visions of psychotics are also examples of the primary process. Autistic thinking is brightly colored by the action of the primary process. These wish-fulfilling mental images are the only reality known to the id.

Obviously, the primary process itself is not capable of relieving tension. A hungry person cannot eat the image of food. Consequently, a new, secondary mental process develops, and with its appearance, the second personality system begins to take shape - the Self.

I (Ego)

I appears due to the fact that the needs of the organism require appropriate interactions with the world of objective reality. A hungry person must search, find and eat food before the tension of hunger is reduced. This means that a person must learn to distinguish between the image of food that exists in memory and the actual perception of food that exists in the external world. When this differentiation is accomplished, it is necessary to transform the image into perception, which is carried out as determining the location of food in the environment. In other words, a person correlates the image of food existing in memory with the sight or smell of food coming through the senses. The main difference between It and I is that It knows only subjective reality, while I distinguishes between internal and external.

The Self is said to obey the reality principle and operate through a secondary process. The purpose of the reality principle is to prevent tension from discharging until an object suitable for satisfaction is found. The reality principle temporarily suspends the action of the pleasure principle, although, ultimately, when the desired object is discovered and the tension is reduced, it is the pleasure principle that is “served.” The reality principle is concerned with the question of the truth or falsity of an experience—that is, whether it has an external existence—while the pleasure principle is concerned only with whether an experience produces pain or vice versa.

The secondary process is realistic thinking. Through the secondary process, the self formulates a plan to satisfy needs and then tests it—usually with some action—to see if it works. A hungry person thinks about where he can find food, and then starts looking for it there. This is called a reality check. To play its role satisfactorily, the ego controls all cognitive and intellectual functions; these higher mental processes serve the secondary process.

The ego is called the executive organ of the personality, since it opens the door to action, selects from the environment what action should correspond to, and decides which instincts and how they should be satisfied. Carrying out these extremely important executive functions, the I is forced to try to integrate the often contradictory commands emanating from the Id, the Super-Egoand the outside world. This is not an easy task, often keeping the Self on its toes.

However, it should be borne in mind that the Self, this organized part of the It, appears in order to follow the purposes of the It and not to frustrate them, and that all its strength is drawn from the It. The I does not have an existence separate from the It, and in an absolute sense is always dependent on it. Its main role is to be a mediator between the instinctive demands of the body and environmental conditions; its highest goal is to keep the organism alive and to see the species reproduce.

Super-I (Super-Ego)

The third and last developing personality system is the Super-ego. It is an internal representation of the traditional values ​​and ideals of society as they are interpreted for the child by the parents and forcibly instilled through rewards and punishments inflicted on the child. The super-ego is the moral force of the personality, it is an ideal rather than a reality, and serves more for improvement than for pleasure. Its main task is to evaluate the rightness or wrongness of something based on the moral standards sanctioned by society.

The super-ego, as an internalized moral arbiter accompanying a person, develops intoresponse to rewards and punishments coming from parents. To receive rewards and avoid punishment, the child learns to structure his behavior in accordance with the requirements of his parents. What is considered wrong and for which the child is punished is incorporated into conscience - one of the subsystems of the Super-ego. What they approve of and for which they reward the child is included in his ideal self - another subsystem of the super-ego. The mechanism of both processes is called introjection.

The child accepts, or introjects, the moral standards of the parents. Conscience punishes a person, making him feel guilty; the ideal Self rewards him, filling him with pride. With the formation of the Super-I, self-control takes the place of parental control.

The main functions of self-control: 1) prevent impulses of the id, in particular, impulses of a sexual and aggressive nature, because their manifestations are condemned by society; 2) “persuade” I to change realistic goals to moral ones and 3) fight for perfection. Thus, the Super-Ego is in opposition to the Id and to the Ego and tries to build the world in its own image. However, the Super-Ego is like the Id in its irrationality and like the Ego in its desire to control instincts.* Unlike the Ego, the Super-Ego does not simply delay the satisfaction of instinctual needs: it constantly blocks them. (Analysis of the superego given by Turiell, 1967).

* Freud's original term is translated as drive, but translations from English traditionally use the calque "instinct", which corresponds to that accepted in English-language psychoanalytic literature.

In conclusion of this brief consideration, it should be said that the Id, Ego and Super-Ego should not be considered as some kind of little men who control our personality. These are nothing more than names for various mental processes that obey systemic principles. Under normal circumstances, these principles do not contradict or cancel each other out. On the contrary, they work as a single team under the leadership of the Self. The personality normally functions as a single whole, and not as something tripartite. In a very general sense, the It can be considered as a biological component of personality, the Self as a psychological component, and the Super-Ego as a social component.