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Freud's Iceberg Theory of Mind

Sigmund Freud introduced the concepts of the conscious mind, preconscious mind, and unconscious mind. The unconscious mind contains repressed memories, desires, instincts, and emotions associated with trauma. Freud believed the unconscious greatly influences behavior. He also conceptualized the id, ego, and superego as parts of the human personality. The id operates based on the pleasure principle and seeks immediate gratification, while the superego represents morality. The ego mediates between the id, superego, and reality. Carl Jung expanded on Freud's ideas, proposing the collective unconscious containing the shared memories of humanity. Jung believed archetypes in the collective unconscious influence human behavior at a deeper level than Freud's model.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
129 views3 pages

Freud's Iceberg Theory of Mind

Sigmund Freud introduced the concepts of the conscious mind, preconscious mind, and unconscious mind. The unconscious mind contains repressed memories, desires, instincts, and emotions associated with trauma. Freud believed the unconscious greatly influences behavior. He also conceptualized the id, ego, and superego as parts of the human personality. The id operates based on the pleasure principle and seeks immediate gratification, while the superego represents morality. The ego mediates between the id, superego, and reality. Carl Jung expanded on Freud's ideas, proposing the collective unconscious containing the shared memories of humanity. Jung believed archetypes in the collective unconscious influence human behavior at a deeper level than Freud's model.

Uploaded by

Zahraa Qahtan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

According to Sigmund Freud if the emotional are not be expressed it remains in their heart and

who come outside in a different ways. “Unexpressed emotions will never die they are buried
alive and will come forth later in uglier ways” Sigmund Freud.
He quoted that, “there is a powerful force within us, an unilluminated part of the mind that is
constantly at working molding our thought, feelings and actions” (Juma, 2019)1.
Freud, in order to properly establish his thought regarding the concept of the conscious and
unconscious mind, introduced three elements of the psyche which are Id, Ego, and Superego.

Psychoanalysis experienced factional movements that reduced Freud’s interpretation and made
psychoanalysis more varied, more popular and more accessible. Carl Jung’s break with Freud
was to their different views on sexuality and the unconscious.
Like Freud, Carl Jung divided the human personality into three parts, but he looked at it from a
different perspective. Unlike Freud, who stated that human mind centers upon the id, the ego,
and the super ego, Jung divided the human psyche into the ego, the personal unconscious, and
the collective unconscious.
Carl Jung, Freud’s student, delved even deeper. Jung believed there is another layer below the
personal unconscious, which he called the collective unconscious, “a collective, universal, and
impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals.”3 He likened this realm to a vast reservoir
beneath the surface of everyday experience, a pool of pre-existing “archetypes” that all human
beings inherit. According to this view, horror films derive much of their power by tapping into
the pool. They connect us to our “shadow side,” the dark, demonic forces that rage in everyone
and which we project as archetypal monsters on screen. If ghosts and demons represent the
return of repressed psychic energies to Freudians, if they symbolize the dark side of a mythic,
universal underworld to Jungians, followers of Karl Marx and Fredric Jameson see them as
creatures from a kind of political unconscious. Repressed social problems that threaten the status
quo – class conflicts, racial tensions, gender inequities – return symbolically in horror films to
haunt us in the form of zombies, hillbilly stalkers, and vengeful female ghosts. Their power to
disturb us, these theories imply, comes from unresolved issues skulking deep within our psyche,
our culture, and shared myths.
He agreed with Freud about the subconscious as a repository of primal desires. He also believed
in the Freudian concept that many forms of neurosis were the result of the conflicts between the
conscious and the unconscious. But he held that Freud had failed to take into account what he
called the ‘collective consciousness’ as an expansion of the id. The human subconscious is not
only the repository of personal experiences and memories but also those of the whole of
humanity. All human beings share a subconscious mind that stores the memories of all human

1
Juma (Ed.). (2019). Sigmund Freud Quotes: The Master of Psychoanalysis. Everydaypower.
[Link] com
beings, alive and dead. According to Jung, we carry the memories of our ancestors in our
subconscious. We use this collective unconscious to assign structure and meaning to the world.
Sigmund_Freud_and_Psychoanalysis

In the theory of psychoanalytical theory of personality, one of Sigmund Freud’s greatest works,
Freud described personality to be founded on three major elements that co-currently work
together to create various human behaviors. Freud termed these elements as the ID, Ego and the
Super Ego. According to Freud, the component of personality that humans were born with was
the ID. It is as a result of the ID that babies are able to communicate. It is factual that babies cry
at the sign of any form of discomfort from hunger, wetness, sleep, to even simply needing
attention. This hence made the ID the primary personality component.

According to Freud, the conscious mind is aware of the present perceptions, memories, thoughts,
and feelings. It exists as the tip of the iceberg. Under this conscious mind, a preconscious mind
carries the available memory. From this preconscious mind, a person can retrieve memories into
the conscious mind. There is no dispute about the two layers of the mind. Freud's perception
suggested that these two layers are only the smallest parts of the mind. The larger part is the
unconscious of the mind. All the things, which are not easily available at a conscious level, such
as our drives or instincts, memories, and emotions associated with trauma. Like an iceberg, the
unconscious mind plays an important part of the personality. It plays as the repository of
primitive wishes and impulses. These are mediated by the preconscious mind. Freud's
psychoanalytic theory emphasizes the importance of the unconscious mind and it governs the
behaviour to the greatest degree in persons. According to Freud, three important conceptualized
parts of the human personality are the id, ego, and superego. Based on the pleasure principle, id
operates at the unconscious level. The id consists of two kinds of biological instincts: Eros and
Thanatos. The life instinct, Eros helps the person to survive in the world and directs life-
sustaining activities such as respiration, eating, and sex in individuals. Life instincts create
energy, which is known as libido. Death instincts, Thanatos are a set of destructive forces visible
in all human beings. Sometimes, this energy is directed towards others in the form of aggression
or violence. Freud strongly believed that Eros is stronger than Thanatos. It always helps people
to survive. During infancy, the ego develops from the id in individuals. The purpose of the ego is
to satisfy the demands of the id in a very safe and socially acceptable way. The ego operates both
in conscious and unconscious mind; ego follows the reality principle in contrast to the id. During
childhood, the superego develops in individuals. Every child follows the same-sex parent and
tries to identify with them. The superego is responsible for ensuring moral standards in
individuals. It operates on moral principles and motivates them to behave in socially acceptable
ways. The fundamental dilemma of all human beings is that every part of the psychic apparatus
makes demands, which are incompatible with the other two. Therefore, every person is under the
inner conflict. Freud compares the relationship between the structure of personality and the
levels of consciousness to an iceberg floating on water. The unconscious mind controls the
conscious mind of the person. The primitive instincts of the id very rarely give direct expression
to the outside world. The ego always regulates and transforms the primitive instincts following
the external world and superego. The ego aims to synchronize the demands of the three
tyrannical masters: id, superego, and the external world. Therefore, the ego becomes the
battleground between the conscious and unconscious minds. Even the ego is an integral part of
the id but it functions with modification to accommodate the needs of the external world. The
inability of the ego to satisfy the demands of the id indicates the weakness of the ego and leads
into the split of mind. Suppose the ego is to satisfy the demands of the id, it shows the strength of
the ego. For satisfying the id, the primitive instincts give indirect expression through various
dynamic processes. There are many defence mechanisms such as fantasy, identification,
sublimation and displacement, and dreams. Defence mechanisms are unconscious activities of
the mind. The person does not know it directly. They are different in different persons. This
process is a normal one. When it goes beyond the limit, then it leads to abnormality. The primary
intension of all these processes is to meet the demands of the id without any conflict with the
outside world. Some of the processes are denial, fantasy, compensation, projection,
displacement, sublimation, reaction formation, regression, and repression.

In the case of the iceberg, the bigger portion always remains under the water and therefore
remains unseen. Like this under the conscious mind, an unconscious mind carries the repressed
memory or desire which a person does not want to express to the people but still, they always
come outside in a way or with some medium. From this unconscious mind, a person can retrieve
memories into the conscious mind. He claims that instinct and emotions associated with trauma
can be found on the unconscious level. In 1923 he introduced id, ego, and superego as the
biological drivers of human behavior to describe the psyche of an individual or human
personality. Id lies in the unconscious mind and seeks immediate satisfaction. Superego also lies
in the unconscious mind but it refers to moral behavior. The ego is the most prominent part of
the human psyche. It works keeping in mind both id and superego. Ego helps an individual to
walk on a path where neither his behavior will go against society nor he has to suffer for not
getting any pleasure.

Common questions

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The significance of Freud's introduction of the id, ego, and superego lies in providing a comprehensive framework for understanding human psychological functioning and internal conflicts . This triadic structure illustrates the complexity of the psyche by attributing distinct roles: the id as the primal source of instincts, the ego as the realistic mediator, and the superego as the moral compass . This model explains the dynamic tension and negotiation between instinctual desires, moral imperatives, and reality expectations, offering insight into behavioral patterns and the roots of psychological disorders, thereby influencing therapeutic approaches and enabling a more nuanced appreciation of human motivation .

Eros, the life instinct according to Freud, is responsible for survival-driven activities such as eating, sex, and creativity, and generates constructive energy known as libido . Thanatos, the death instinct, represents destructive forces that manifest in aggression or self-destructive behavior. Freud posited that these opposing forces interact continually, influencing behavior and personality development. The dominance of Eros is believed to promote growth and adaptation, while the presence of Thanatos requires ego mediation to prevent social and personal harm, underscoring the dynamic tension central to personality formation . This interaction reflects the dual nature of human motivation, where life-affirming actions are constantly tempered by potentially destructive impulses .

Freud's concept of the unconscious primarily centers on individual repressions and instincts, described through the id, ego, and superego dynamics, with repression leading to neuroses if not properly integrated into conscious awareness . Jung, however, expands this view by introducing the collective unconscious, a universal dimension shared among all humans, containing archetypes that influence behavior across cultures . This divergence suggests that Freud emphasizes personal historical influence on behavior, whereas Jung implies a broader, cross-cultural influence inherent in all humans. These differences imply varied therapeutic approaches: Freud might focus more on the individual's personal repressions, while Jung would consider the impact of universal archetypal forces .

Recognizing the ego's role as a mediator provides crucial therapeutic insights by framing psychological distress as a result of imbalances in how desires and restrictions are negotiated . Therapists can work towards strengthening the ego, enabling better integration and harmonization of the instinctual id and the normative superego, aiding patients in leading more balanced lives . This approach facilitates coping strategies aimed at mitigating inner conflicts and fostering adaptability, thereby enhancing personal resilience and emotional health, and reducing psychopathological manifestations by emphasizing the development of a stable and adaptive ego .

Freud's iceberg model suggests that the unconscious mind holds the majority of mental content, like repressed wishes and traumatic memories, which influence behavior more dominantly than the conscious mind . This implies that most of human behavior is driven by unconscious processes rather than conscious awareness. The ego operates by reconciling demands between the id and superego with reality, reflecting how conscious thought often serves to navigate complex internal demands that are largely invisible and not readily accessible . Understanding this model highlights the unconscious as a critical factor in therapeutic processes that aim to uncover and integrate these hidden aspects into conscious awareness for behavior modification .

Jung’s concept of the personal unconscious involves the unique memories and experiences of an individual, while the collective unconscious contains universal symbols and archetypes shared among all humans . This dual framework contributes to understanding cultural myths as expressions of the collective unconscious, where recurring themes and archetypal stories reflect shared human experiences across cultures, irrespective of individual histories . This explains why certain motifs like the heroic quest or creation myths resonate universally, serving as a bridge between the conscious awareness of a culture and its deeper, shared psychological heritage .

Freud's concept of defense mechanisms demonstrates how the ego unconsciously protects itself from anxiety arising from reality and internal conflicts by distorting or denying reality . Mechanisms such as denial, projection, and sublimation serve to manage the id’s impulses and superego’s demands within societal norms. While these mechanisms can be adaptive, over-reliance may lead to psychological distress by inhibiting emotional growth and promoting unhealthy behavior patterns, highlighting their dual role as both protective and potentially maladaptive processes . Persistent use can prevent individuals from effectively addressing and integrating unresolved conflicts, causing long-term psychological issues .

According to Freud, the id is the primary aspect of personality present from birth and is responsible for the instinctual demands of immediate satisfaction, such as hunger and discomfort, evident in infants' behavior . As individuals grow, the ego emerges to mediate the id's demands with reality, and the superego later develops to impose moral standards, creating a balance between primal desires, reality, and social norms . This developmental process illustrates how human behavior evolves from pure instinct to a complex interplay of impulses and societal expectations .

Jung's theory of archetypes posits that certain universal symbols and themes, inherent to the collective unconscious, influence individual behavior by shaping perceptions and responses . Archetypes such as the Shadow embody the darker aspects of humanity, manifesting in individuals regardless of personal history. Horror films tap into this collective reservoir, triggering primal fears through archetypal symbols like ghosts and demons, which resonate universally and evoke subconscious tensions . They function as a cultural expression of repressed anxieties and desires, illustrating how collective memories can surface in societal narratives, blending personal and ancestral influences .

Freud’s interpretation of symbols like zombies and ghosts is that they represent the return of repressed psychic energies, originating from individual unconscious traumas and desires . In contrast, Marxist interpretations, as seen through theorists like Fredric Jameson, view these symbols as embodiments of social tensions and political struggles, such as class conflicts and racial issues, returning symbolically to disrupt societal norms . While Freud focuses on personal psychological undercurrents, Marxist perspectives foreground systemic societal forces, offering a sociopolitical critique that explains cultural symbols as reflections of collective, rather than purely individual, anxieties .

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