Finding the balance between "self" and "superego"

This material mentions two concepts - ego and superego.

They come from Freud’s psychological research theory-psychodynamic theory. The three concepts involved are "id, ego and superego". It is the basis of his theory of personality structure.

Let’s first talk about the three basic concepts of this theory.

The ego is the thought under the subconscious mind. It is the most primitive desire of human beings to satisfy instinctive impulses, such as hunger, anger, desire, etc. It belongs to the lowest level in Freud's personality structure theory and is characterized by unconsciousness, irrationality, unsocialization and disorder. It follows the organism's pleasure principle and avoids all pain.

The attributes of this concept are somewhat similar to the lowest need in Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory - physiological needs. It's just that the "id" is unconscious and mainly exists in infants and young children, while the instinctive needs in the hierarchy of needs theory are regardless of age.

Strictly speaking, infants and young children do not yet have certain social attributes, so when the concept of "self" is restored to real life, it can be understood as the natural attributes of the individual. It mainly deals with the relationship between the individual and the individual. Instinctive relationship.

Before talking about the concept of "self", let's first talk about the "superego".

The attributes of this concept are opposite to the "id" and are located at the top of the personality structure theory. It is characterized by partial consciousness, rationality, socialization and perfect order. What is followed is the principle of social morality and the suppression of instinctive primitive impulses, which are subconscious concepts, emotions, values, beliefs, etc.

This is an inevitable product of civilized society, and it is a kind of suppression and rejection for the "id".

In addition, understanding this concept can also make a simple comparison with the highest need in Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory - the need for self-actualization.

The need for self-realization expects individuals to exert their potential through efforts and achieve the highest realm of life of truth, goodness and beauty.

Freud believed that the "superego" is the perfect personality that an individual pursues, and is the dream result of the need for self-realization.

Putting the superego into real life actually represents an ideal personality, because it follows the judgment standards of moral principles and is a perfect state of life without flaws. , has its own "utopia" attribute, so it is also the most difficult to obtain.

This "superego" life realm has actually become the life pursuit of many literati as early as the pre-Qin period. The most typical example is Zhuangzi. In Zhuangzi's philosophy, it is said that "the perfect person has no self, the gods and men have no merit, and the saint has no name." Although there are many interpretations of this sentence, these three types of people are basically the perfect good that Zhuangzi pursues. The most beautiful and moral person.

"Self" is differentiated from "id" and is located in the middle layer of personality structure theory. As an adjustment between the "id" and the "superego", it reasonably satisfies the "id" on the one hand; on the other hand, it is controlled by the "superego". It follows the reality principle, temporarily suspends the pleasure principle, and strives to sublimate toward perfect moral principles.

When an individual begins to think, analyze, criticize or reflect on whether the "self" adapts to the requirements of social reality rules, it has actually entered the stage of consciousness and has entered the level of "self".

"Self" can not only obtain appropriate happiness and satisfaction, but also deeply understand that pain is inevitable, and appropriate pain can avoid the punishment for blindly pursuing the "self" that does not conform to moral standards. , which is essentially an individual protection mechanism.

Ancient scholars and officials had a kind of detachment complex. I think this "detachment" is similar to the personality structure of "self". For example, Fan Zhongyan "does not rejoice in things, and does not grieve in himself." His own happiness does not depend on the quality of external things. He has clear self-control over the happiness and satisfaction that individuals instinctively pursue and the pain that they instinctively avoid. This is a kind of open-mindedness. Calm attitude.

The "ego" that appropriately suppresses sexual instinctual impulses and avoids punishment enables the individual to learn to distinguish between the thoughts in the mind and those in the external world that surrounds the individual. The self regulates within itself and its environment.

According to Freud, this is the executor of personality.

He compared the "id" to a horse, which is the source of power; he compared the "self" to a horseman, controlling the horse to move forward; and the "superego" to the direction of progress, which has The guiding role of guiding direction.

Freud believed that the ideal personality should be a balance of the three, and focusing on any one will lead to abnormal personality.

There are two types of actors mentioned at the beginning of the article. Among them, true actors integrate their personality into all roles to creatively give new vitality to the characters. Of course, it is also good to perform performances that are true to oneself, so that you can create A typical one.

The other way is to follow the script and forget about yourself to perform the interpretation. Thousands of people will have thousands of faces. In actual operation, it must meet the requirements of the script and test the actor's acting skills, which is also good.

There is no opposition between these two classifications, but there will be disadvantages if there is a lack of balance between the two.

For example, pursuing individual performances for a long time will lead to stereotyped roles and a single acting path. In the long run, it is likely to become an obstacle to one's acting career. There are many examples of this, and there are also actors who eventually strive for completely different roles or work hard on their acting skills and achieve a breakthrough.

Excessively following the script to create another self may lead to being too involved in the drama and unable to get out in time. We have heard that some actors suffer from depression because of this.

If you can find a balance between the two, properly give the character his own personality and respect the needs of the script to perform, it can not only give you creativity but also hone your acting skills, which should be a more effective choice.

When dealing with various relationships in real life, whether love relationships, marriage relationships, peer relationships or parent-child relationships, "self" and "superego" are seeking a sense of existence. One is ebbing and the other is ebbing, trying to find a balance that allows both parties to deal with it calmly.

In this case, two concepts are given social attributes. Let's take a look at the relationship between the two.

In social life, "self" deals with the relationship with oneself, which is an inward self-satisfaction behavior; "superego" deals with the relationship between oneself and society, which is a kind of self-satisfaction. External affirmation-seeking behavior.

The script here is restored to real life and can be understood as social norms and various moral concepts.

We all hope to live according to our own hearts and pursue individuality, joy and happiness, but society has put forward requirements for people and given various rules for how to behave in the world, and the relationship between people and themselves has been framed. In an invisible and intangible circle. If you go out, you will be punished by social norms and moral standards.

Gradually we will discover that various social norms and moral concepts are the core of the large circle of "society". Everything we do is guided by it, and we get closer to it infinitely, but we are not allowed to stand completely with it.

The self will also be aware of this problem, and at the same time, it will pull in the opposite direction to a certain extent, trying to satisfy the happiness of the heart. Of course, this is allowed, as long as it does not touch the bottom line of social morality.

Invisibly, the ego and the superego complete a competition, with no success or failure, only compromise.

This is balance.

In this balance, the realization of the superego comes from the self and at the same time supervises the operation of the self; the self uses the superego principle to urge itself and uses the superego as the goal of sublimation.

In an unequal relationship, such as love, one of the parties is likely to lose himself and try his best to prove "I love you" to the outside - the other half - in the way of a perfect lover. Show your kindness in every possible way, "beautify" yourself with the same standards of a perfect lover, and naively believe that this should be what the other person wants to see, but who knows that the other person is actually a mortal with flesh and blood, and he hopes that you will be like him. He is also an angel who fell into the mortal world, not a perfect immortal. Of course, it is difficult to imagine that this relationship can last for a long time.

As a working woman, the best-selling author Li Ailing completely returned to her family for a period of time after giving birth. She spent every day with her baby who was waiting to be fed. Of course, she was eating, drinking, sleeping, and sleeping with the baby who only had her "self".

Because the other half does not know how to take care of the baby, she has to become an all-round mother, passively. In the eyes of outsiders, this kind of selfless behavior is very powerful in line with the requirements of moral standards for women, but she has lost her balance inside. A life without self is not what she needs, so her life is full of conflicts with her other half. Conflict, up to and including divorce issues.

She chose to put aside all her travels and take a casual trip, which was also a trip to rediscover herself.

The difference is that during this trip, she re-examined the relationship between the two parties and tried to find a balance.

She should love herself better and find her capable, humorous and happy self; her husband can learn to get along with the baby; the two should communicate frequently and face and solve problems together.

The result is a happy ending, although the aftermath is certainly not as sweet as a fairy tale. But after overcoming the troubles of firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea, isn’t it a kind of satisfaction to still be able to find the music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry and wine of the past?

Reality is reality, and it’s very skinny, but he gives us a way out, and we can still maximize our happiness and happiness.

While adhering to your inner pursuits, you should always examine whether your pursuits can improve yourself. To make your life more perfect, you can completely find the balance between "self" and "superego".

Of course you can work very hard to maintain your "self", but your "superego" will also ask you to put in the same effort. As long as you can, you will eventually have a beautiful life.