Question

Michelle was reared in a home where high moral principles dominated. She has attended Sunday school and church since early childhood. In high school, her boyfriend asked her to miss school and go on a cruise with him, but something from inside her told her not to. She felt very proud of herself afterward for holding her ground. Which Freudian personality structure made Michelle feel proud of her response?

Answer 1

Answer:

Super ego

Explanation:

Sigmund Freud is considered the father of psychoanalysis, which is a school of psychology which places the unconscious as the part of our personality that guides a lot of our behavior and that it is formed through our desires that were not met during childhood.

Freud proposed that we had 3 different personality structures:

1. The id: is the most "primitive" one and it looks for instant gratification, it is the part of our personality we are born with.
2. The superego: This is also known as our "conscience" and it refers to all the norms that we have learned and that tell us what is right and what is wrong. This structure is formed later in life.
3. The ego: Is the mediator between the id and the superego, this would be our "self" which is constantly deciding what to do.

In this example, Michelle was raised under high moral principles, she has attended church since she was a little girl. In highschool, her boyfriend told her to miss school and go on a cruise together but "something" inside her told her not to and she felt very proud of herself after that. This "something" would be her conscience that told her that missing school was wrong. Therefore, the Freudian structure that made her feel proud of her response would be the superego since this is the one that tells us what's right and what's wrong.