Sigmund Freud, the founder of Psychoanalysis, described the concepts of Id, Ego and Super Ego in his paper written in 1923. According to Freud, Id, Ego and Super Ego are the 3 aspects of human Psyche or mind. They can be called as 3 elements or parts of the human personality. As per Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality,the different behaviours which human beings exhibit in their day-to-day life are the result of the interaction of these 3 elements.
Id: Id is unconscious part of the mind. Id is illogical, irrational and need no reasons. It works on the pleasure principle which means every desire has to be satisfied immediately irrespective of the consequences. Every Human being will have Id from birth and the other two aspects which are Ego and Super ego will develop as time passes. The infant whose mind is full of Id tends to satisfy his wishes of food or comfort as quickly as possible regardless of the circumstances. He goes on crying till his needs are satisfied.
Ego: Ego is the decision making part. Ego works on the realistic principle where it tries to figure out realistic ways to satisfy the desires unlike Id which tries in unrealistic ways. The ego keeps in mind the negative consequences of an act in the society and takes societal norms and etiquette into consideration before doing an act. If the Ego dominates Id, a human being will exhibit normal behaviour which is not harmful to anyone. But if Ego is weakened and the Id’s domination increases, human behaviour will be impulsive that is he may go to any extent where he may even harm others to satisfy his desires. Freud made the analogy of id and ego to horse and rider respectively. The ego is 'like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse.'
Super Ego: Super Ego includes all the moral values and ideals that a human being acquires from his parents, teachers and society. Super Ego may form at around age 5. If Super Ego has more influence over ego, human behaviour would be more idealistic than just realistic. The superego consists of two systems: The conscience and the Ideal self. The conscience includes things which are considered as bad by our parents and society and can punish the ego through causing feelings of guilt. The ideal self (or ego-ideal) is an imaginary picture of how we ought to be, and represents career aspirations, how to treat other people, and how to behave as a member of society, basically behaviours approved by parents and elders.
On the other hand, a person who is highly dominated by super ego may turn out to be a extremely judgemental person as his beliefs may also be conservative and outdated.
Therefore, a healthy personality can be attained only if there is a perfect balance among the Id, Ego and Super Ego.