Ego as the Rational Part of Personality

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsOverviewFreud’s ObservationsDefense MechanismsQuotations About the EgoOther Meanings of Ego

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Overview

Freud’s Observations

Defense Mechanisms

Quotations About the Ego

Other Meanings of Ego

Close

According toSigmund Freud, the ego is part of our personality that mediates the demands ofthe id, the superego, and reality. Freud described the id as the most basic part of personality that urges people to fulfill their most primal needs.

Thesuperego, on the other hand, is the moralistic part of personality that forms later in childhood due to upbringing and social influences. It is the ego’s job to strike a balance between these two, often competing, forces and to ensure that fulfilling the needs of the id and superego conforms to the demands of reality.

At a GlanceThe ego is the component of personality that strikes a realistic balance between the demands of the id’s primal urges and the superego’s moral conscience. Freud also believed that the ego relies on defense mechanisms (such as denial and repression) to protect us against anxiety and distress.In everyday usage, the ego represents a sense of self-importance (think: “He has such a big ego!) Having a healthy ego means we can maintain a healthy sense of self, but an imbalance can lead to problems, including excessive self-centeredness.

At a Glance

The ego is the component of personality that strikes a realistic balance between the demands of the id’s primal urges and the superego’s moral conscience. Freud also believed that the ego relies on defense mechanisms (such as denial and repression) to protect us against anxiety and distress.In everyday usage, the ego represents a sense of self-importance (think: “He has such a big ego!) Having a healthy ego means we can maintain a healthy sense of self, but an imbalance can lead to problems, including excessive self-centeredness.

The ego is the component of personality that strikes a realistic balance between the demands of the id’s primal urges and the superego’s moral conscience. Freud also believed that the ego relies on defense mechanisms (such as denial and repression) to protect us against anxiety and distress.

In everyday usage, the ego represents a sense of self-importance (think: “He has such a big ego!) Having a healthy ego means we can maintain a healthy sense of self, but an imbalance can lead to problems, including excessive self-centeredness.

Id, Ego, and Superego: Freud’s Elements of Personality

A Closer Look at the Ego

While the ego operates in both the preconscious andconscious, its strong ties to the id means that it also operates in the unconscious.

The ego operates based on thereality principle, which works to satisfy the id’s desires in a manner that is realistic and socially appropriate.The termego strengthis used to refer to the ego’s ability to mediate between these conflicting demands.

For example, if a person cuts you off in traffic, the ego prevents you from chasing down the car and physically attacking the offending driver. The ego allows us to see that this response would be socially unacceptable, but it also allows us to know that there are other more appropriate means of venting our frustration.

What Is the Unconscious?

Freud’s Observations on the Ego

In his 1933 bookNew Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis,Freudcompared the relationship between the id and the ego to that of a horse and rider. The horse represents the id, a powerful force that offers the energy to propel forward motion. The rider represents the ego, the guiding force that directs the power of the id toward a goal.

Freud noted, however, that this relationship did not always go as planned. In less ideal situations, a rider may find himself simply along for the ride as he allows his horse to go in the direction the animal wants to go.

Just as a rider may not always be able to control a horse, the id’s primal urges may sometimes be too powerful for the ego to keep in check.

The Ego’s Defense Mechanisms

While we cannot observe the defenses in action, Anna Freud suggested that they could be observed in retrospect. Repression is one example.When something is repressed from awareness, the ego is not aware that the information is missing.

It is only later when it becomes obvious that some piece of information or memory is gone, that the actions of the ego become apparent.

Sometimes it helps to look at the original source of these ideas to get a better perspective on the topic. So what did Freud have to say about his concept of the ego? He wrote extensively about the ego as well as its relationship to other aspects of personality.

Here are just a few of his morefamous quotesabout the ego:

On the Ego’s Origins

On the Ego’s Influence

“The ego is not master in its own house.” (Sigmund Freud, 1917, FromA Difficulty in the Path of Psycho-Analysis)

“The ego represents what we call reason and sanity, in contrast to the id which contains the passions.” (Sigmund Freud, 1923, FromThe Ego and the Id)

“The poor ego has a still harder time of it; it has to serve three harsh masters, and it has to do its best to reconcile the claims and demands of all three… The three tyrants are the external world, the superego, and the id.” (Sigmund Freud, 1932, FromNew Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis)

“Towards the outside, at any rate, the ego seems to maintain clear and sharp lines of demarcation. There is only one state—admittedly an unusual state, but not one that can be stigmatized as pathological—in which it does not do this.

At the height of being in love the boundary between ego and object threatens to melt away. Against all the evidence of his senses, a man who is in love declares that “I” and “you” are one, and is prepared to behave as if it were a fact.” (Sigmund Freud, 1929, FromCivilization and Its Discontents)

In everyday usage, the term ‘ego’ is often used to describe a person’s sense of self-importance. When someone says that a person has a big ego, they imply that that person is conceited or has an exaggerated sense of self-importance.

Similarly,egocentrismrefers to self-centeredness and an inability to consider the perspective of other people.It is more common in childhood, but it can also occur throughout life to varying degrees.

Sometimes, this inflated sense of ego might be connected to a mental health condition.Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD)is a condition that involves having a grandiose sense of importance, self-centeredness, and alack of empathyfor others.People with bipolar disorder also sometimes experiencegrandiosityduring manic episodes.

It is important to note that narcissism and egocentrism are not precisely the same. People with NPD also experience other symptoms, such as a sense of entitlement and preoccupation with their own success. They may also manipulate others to get the attention and acclaim they desire.

What This Means For YouEgo has a couple of different meanings in psychology. In Freud’s classicpsychoanalytic theory, it refers to the realistic part of personality that strikes a balance between our primal urges and moralconscience. In other cases, people use it to refer to a person’s sense of identity and self-importance. Having a healthy ego is important, but having an inflated sense of self can lead to problems. An inflated ego might be a symptom of a mental health condition such as narcissistic personality disorder or bipolar disorder.

What This Means For You

Ego has a couple of different meanings in psychology. In Freud’s classicpsychoanalytic theory, it refers to the realistic part of personality that strikes a balance between our primal urges and moralconscience. In other cases, people use it to refer to a person’s sense of identity and self-importance. Having a healthy ego is important, but having an inflated sense of self can lead to problems. An inflated ego might be a symptom of a mental health condition such as narcissistic personality disorder or bipolar disorder.

How Personality Impacts Our Daily Lives

11 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychological Association.Ego.Lunbeck E, Musser AJ, McGowan T.Sigmund Freud’s The Ego and the Id. JSTOR Daily.Boag S.Ego, drives, and the dynamics of internal objects.Front Psychol. 2014;5:666. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00666Freud, S.New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. Norton & Co; 1933.Freud, A.The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense. International Universities Press; 1946.Jamilian HR, Zamani N, Darvishi M, Khansari MR.Study of defensive methods and mechanisms in developmental, emotional (internalization), and disruptive behavior (externalization) disorders.Glob J Health Sci. 2014;6(7 Spec No):109–115. doi:10.5539/gjhs.v6n7p109Freud, S.The Ego and the Id. W W Norton & Co; 1961.Reisner, S.Reclaiming the metapsychology: Classical revisionism, seduction, and the self in Freudian psychoanalysis.Psychoanalytic Psychology. 1991;8(4):439–462. doi:10.1037/h0079296Mellor MJ.The emergence of psychoanalytic metaneuropsychology: A neuropsychoanalytically informed reconsideration of early psychic development.Front Psychol. 2021;12:701637. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.701637American Psychological Association.Egocentrism.National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).Personality disorders.

11 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychological Association.Ego.Lunbeck E, Musser AJ, McGowan T.Sigmund Freud’s The Ego and the Id. JSTOR Daily.Boag S.Ego, drives, and the dynamics of internal objects.Front Psychol. 2014;5:666. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00666Freud, S.New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. Norton & Co; 1933.Freud, A.The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense. International Universities Press; 1946.Jamilian HR, Zamani N, Darvishi M, Khansari MR.Study of defensive methods and mechanisms in developmental, emotional (internalization), and disruptive behavior (externalization) disorders.Glob J Health Sci. 2014;6(7 Spec No):109–115. doi:10.5539/gjhs.v6n7p109Freud, S.The Ego and the Id. W W Norton & Co; 1961.Reisner, S.Reclaiming the metapsychology: Classical revisionism, seduction, and the self in Freudian psychoanalysis.Psychoanalytic Psychology. 1991;8(4):439–462. doi:10.1037/h0079296Mellor MJ.The emergence of psychoanalytic metaneuropsychology: A neuropsychoanalytically informed reconsideration of early psychic development.Front Psychol. 2021;12:701637. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.701637American Psychological Association.Egocentrism.National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).Personality disorders.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

American Psychological Association.Ego.Lunbeck E, Musser AJ, McGowan T.Sigmund Freud’s The Ego and the Id. JSTOR Daily.Boag S.Ego, drives, and the dynamics of internal objects.Front Psychol. 2014;5:666. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00666Freud, S.New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. Norton & Co; 1933.Freud, A.The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense. International Universities Press; 1946.Jamilian HR, Zamani N, Darvishi M, Khansari MR.Study of defensive methods and mechanisms in developmental, emotional (internalization), and disruptive behavior (externalization) disorders.Glob J Health Sci. 2014;6(7 Spec No):109–115. doi:10.5539/gjhs.v6n7p109Freud, S.The Ego and the Id. W W Norton & Co; 1961.Reisner, S.Reclaiming the metapsychology: Classical revisionism, seduction, and the self in Freudian psychoanalysis.Psychoanalytic Psychology. 1991;8(4):439–462. doi:10.1037/h0079296Mellor MJ.The emergence of psychoanalytic metaneuropsychology: A neuropsychoanalytically informed reconsideration of early psychic development.Front Psychol. 2021;12:701637. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.701637American Psychological Association.Egocentrism.National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).Personality disorders.

American Psychological Association.Ego.

Lunbeck E, Musser AJ, McGowan T.Sigmund Freud’s The Ego and the Id. JSTOR Daily.

Boag S.Ego, drives, and the dynamics of internal objects.Front Psychol. 2014;5:666. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00666

Freud, S.New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. Norton & Co; 1933.

Freud, A.The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense. International Universities Press; 1946.

Jamilian HR, Zamani N, Darvishi M, Khansari MR.Study of defensive methods and mechanisms in developmental, emotional (internalization), and disruptive behavior (externalization) disorders.Glob J Health Sci. 2014;6(7 Spec No):109–115. doi:10.5539/gjhs.v6n7p109

Freud, S.The Ego and the Id. W W Norton & Co; 1961.

Reisner, S.Reclaiming the metapsychology: Classical revisionism, seduction, and the self in Freudian psychoanalysis.Psychoanalytic Psychology. 1991;8(4):439–462. doi:10.1037/h0079296

Mellor MJ.The emergence of psychoanalytic metaneuropsychology: A neuropsychoanalytically informed reconsideration of early psychic development.Front Psychol. 2021;12:701637. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.701637

American Psychological Association.Egocentrism.

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).Personality disorders.

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