Thirdly, the Superego is the part of the personality that represents the conscience. It is the last part of the mind to develop. It is the Freudian moral part of the personality and develops as an internal, self observing judge. It operates according to the “Morality Principle”. The Superego tries to copy perfection the young child saw in its parents. It stores and enforces rules and puts impossible strict restrictions on us, creating anxiety. The superego takes into account whether something is right or wrong. It punishes us through a conscience and makes us feel proud when we behave “properly”.
As regards the functioning of personality Freud believed that it develops in stages, which are the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latency stage and the genital stage.
Oral stage is the development stage up to approximately the first year of a child’s life during which the infant’s pleasure centres are in the mouth. The infant at this stage is dependent and needs security and love which could be achieved via the connection that it has through the mouth with its mother. This stage is divided into the receptive sub-stage during the first few months of life and the biting sub-stage that is more aggressive. Two personality types could be developed depending on whether the child was over satisfied or neglected by the parents, the oral incorporative and the oral aggressive character.
Anal stage is the development stage from 1 to 3 years of a child’s life. During this stage the ego and superego start to develop. This stage is connected with toilet training and the child must learn to control body’s functions. This is one of the first points of conflict between the parents’ demands and the child’s desires. Depending on the parental treatment the child could develop either an anal retentive or an anal expulsive character.
Phallic stage is the stage that occurs between the ages of 3 and 5 or 6 years of a child’s life. At this stage the superego fully develops and the child acquires a morality and a gender role identity. This is also the stage where the conflict of the Oedipus complex in boys and Electra complex in girls is worked through (castration anxiety in boys, penis envy in girls). Boys try to identify with their father and introject their father’s attitudes and moral values. Girls’ identification with their mother is weaker than the boys’ hence the girls considered weaker morally than the boys.
Latency is the stage from five or 6 years to puberty where the sexual drive is not strong. During the latency period, children develop intellectually and socially. The balance between id, ego and superego is better than at any other stage. But soon puberty strikes and the genitals once again become a central focus in child’s life.
Genital stage is the development stage from 12 years to 18 years and older. During this stage the child's energy once again focuses on his genitals and the libido reawakens. If the child has covered the needs of the previous stages it will be capable to develop normal relationships with the opposite sex.
The theory described above was based on case studies with Freud’s patients. Freud found that during hypnosis his patients were talking about their unconscious memories and desires and revealed their unconscious wishes and phobias.
Freud’s theory explains a wide range of behaviours, however, various studies focusing on the testing of specific Freudian concepts, such as repression have shown that results could be obtained in other ways as well.
In addition, although there is evidence that some characteristics of personality do exist it is not certain whether they are due to fixation.
Finally, Freud’s theory was criticised as subjective and biased from his own culture and using concepts too vague to be studied objectively.
