Unpacking personality: The id

Personality development

I saw it fit that I explore and understand this concept because personality is a fundamental basis of the self. Scrutinizing how this phenomenon arises and evolves could be a great step towards understanding myself and others more. An interesting theory about how we develop our personality is rooted in the existence of a region of psychic energy in the brain that seeks pleasure and instant gratification. Sigmund Freud proposed in his theories of Psychosexual and Personality development that this unconscious psychic state controls our urges. He conceptualized this part of the brain as the id.

The id as mentioned above, is a primitive constituent of personality. It is described as primitive because of the nature of it’s functioning. The id is said to represent our primal instincts and drives such as hunger, thirst and sexual impulses which are all fundamental to our survival as humans. The id acts beyond our control and influences our behaviour to act such that these urges and needs are satisfied. It exists from the moment we are born, acting as the instinctual need to stay alive as we develop from infancy until death.

The id is driven by the pleasure principle. In light of some readings, it is presented that the pleasure principle drives us to seek pleasure and avoid pain at an unconscious level. This action of seeking instant gratification influences our behaviour and could explain how a majority of people do the things they do, simply because it makes them feel good. That is the pleasure principle, where we might act irrationally because we are primarily driven to seek instant pleasure or emotional relief.

In discussion, the id is an important consideration of one’s personality. The unique ways in which we act and think build our personalities and Freud’s theories shed some light on how these actions could arise. The id is one of three components of personality (the id, ego and superego), which I intend to seek understanding of respectively.