Difference Between ego and superego
What is the difference between ego and superego?
Ego and superego are two terms that are commonly used in the study of Psychology. According to Sigmund Freud, they are two of the three components of the human psyche. These two are the most important ones and even though they seem to be similar, they are actually quite different.
Ego refers to having common sense. It is the way in which you respond to what is real. When you hear something you extract what is real out of the words and these cause a reaction of some sort. Supergo is the conscience. It is the part of the mind that reminds us about doing good and it is what makes us feel guilty when we don’t listen to our conscience.
The ego performs a balancing act between our desires and what we really can have. It differentiates between reality and fantasy. Even though we have desires, the ego makes us react to what we can have rather than what you would like to have and it does so in the best possible way. It extracts what is real and throws away the fantasies.
The superego has a way of making you feel small in the large scope of the world around you. It does this by causing you to repent and to feel sorry for the wrongs you have done. It scolds you when you don’t do what is right and makes you feel sad and remorseful. It causes you to feel ashamed when you have wronged another human being.
Superego is both your conscience and your personality. The ego and the superego help shape a person’s personality and therefore make you the person that you are. The superego also polishes the personality and causes you to act in ways that are acceptable in society. Ego does not polish your personality, but it does help you understand your identity as a person. It is the cause of selfishness, but the superego is concerned with selflessness. The ego of the human psyche is what causes you to be selfish and it is the superego that brings your feelings around so that you are more giving to others.