Disordered Personalities 2ed

Disordered Personalities — Second Edition
Present from birth, the id is completely unconscious and seeks gratifi¬
cation of instinctual (mainly sexual and aggressive) drives. The superego
forms via the process of identification with the same-sex parent at the
resolution of the oedipal conflict. It suppresses instinctual aims, serves
as the moral conscience in dictating what should not be done, and as
the ego ideal, dictates what should be done. The superego is largely
unconscious, but has a conscious element.
The ego is the mediator between the id and superego; and between
the person and reality. The ego has both conscious and unconscious
elements. The following are considered the conscious roles of the ego:
• Perception (sense of reality)
• Reality Testing (adaptation to reality)
• Motor control
• Intuition
• Memory
• Affect (visibly expressed emotion)
• Thinking (the ego uses secondary process) and Learning
• Control of instinctual drives (delay of immediate gratification)
• Synthetic functions (assimilation, creation, coordination)
• Language and Comprehension
The fundamental concept in ego psychology is one of conflict amongst
these three agencies. The id, ego and superego battle for expression
and discharge of sexual and aggressive drives. This conflict produces
anxiety, specifically called signal anxiety. This anxiety alerts the ego
that a defense mechanism is required, which is an unconscious role
of the ego. The events can be conceptualized as follows:
The id seeks expression of an impulse
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The superego prohibits the impulse from being expressed
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This conflict produces signal anxiety
An ego defense is unconsciously recruited to decrease the anxiety
Repression is the first defense used; others follow if required
A character trait or neurotic symptom is formed,
based in part on which other ego defenses are used
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