Superego - Psychology Definition of the Week

Definition: There are three basic components in Sigmund Freud's theory of personality: the id, the ego, and the superego. While the id is made up of unconscious urges and the ego is charged with dealing with reality, the superego is the part of personality that is made up of all the internalized ideals that come from our parents and society. Freud suggested that this component of personality is the last to develop, emerging around age five. The purpose of the superego is to suppress the unacceptable urges of the id and to make the ego behave morally. Learn more about how the superego functions in Freud's theory.

Interested in psychoanalytic theory?

• The Conscious and Unconscious Mind
• The Id, Ego and Superego
• The Life, Work and Theories of Sigmund Freud

_{Image courtesy Piotr Bizior}