The superego is a fundamental concept in Freud's structural theory, but, what is superego How is it formed, how does it work? what is it? definition or concept of superego according to psychoanalytic theory?

Therefore, in this article, we will see that the superego is a part of our mind (and our personality), responsible for the moral dictates In summary, for Freud, it represents the father and everything that is normative, that is, it is in the superego that we renounce pleasure for the benefit of collective life in society.

Superego - psychic structural element

Understand what is superego It is a structural element of the psychic apparatus, responsible for imposing sanctions, norms, and standards.

It is formed by the introjection of the contents (superegoic) coming from the parents, and begins to form with the resolution of the oedipal conflicts of the phallic phase, from the age of five or six.

The superego involves elements:

• of socially shared morals The subject finds himself facing interdictions, prohibitions, laws, taboos, etc. determined by society, in which he will not be able to give vent to all his desires and impulses;
• the idealization of others : the subject reveres certain figures (such as a father, a teacher, an idol, a hero, etc.);
• of the ideal self : the subject charges himself to fulfill certain characteristics and tasks, then a part of his "I" will charge the other part that does not follow this standard of requirement.

It is said that the superego is the heir of the Oedipus complex. This is because it is within the family that the child perceives:

• the interdictions (such as schedules and tasks to be accomplished, etc.), the repulses (such as disgust at incest),
• o fear (to the father, to castration, etc.), the shame,
• a idealization of the other (usually when the child stops rivaling the adult and takes him as a parameter of being and behavior).

The Oedipus complex

To understand what is the superego, one must also understand the Oedipus complex, which is known as the son who "kills" his father to be with his mother, but knows that he himself becomes a father now and will be able to be killed too.

To avoid this, social norms are created:

• the moral (right and wrong);
• education (to teach the culture of not killing the new "father");
• the laws;
• the divine;
• among others.

The heir to the Oedipus complex

Considered as the heir of the Oedipus complex, the superego begins to constitute itself from the moment the child renounces the father/mother as the object of love and hate.

At this time the child detaches itself from the figure of its parents and begins to value interaction In addition, at this stage they also turn their attention to relationships with their peers, in school activities, sports, and so many other skills. (FADIMAN & FRAGER, 1986, p. 15)

Constitution of the Superego

Thus, the constitution of the superego will rely on apparatuses acquired with the passage through the Oedipus complex, but also on subsidies incorporated from images, speech, and attitudes of parents and people who are important to the child's world.

It is said that the Oedipus complex was well resolved when the son:

• no longer desires the mother (the incest taboo arises) and
• ceases to rival the father (adopting him as an ideal or even a "hero").

Thus, the son internalizes moral values more clearly from the Oedipus on.

In the resolution of the Oedipal conflict This differentiation between the Oedipus complex in boys and in girls was discussed by Freud and is discussed in more detail in another article of ours.

Although according to patriarchal or matriarchal culture, the father or the mother takes the role in the formation of the superego of both sexes.

The superego also emerges as a notion of protection and love

The superego emerges in this way, as a notion of right and wrong, not only as a source of punishment and threat, but also of protection and love.

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He exercises moral authority about actions and thinking, from then on attitudes such as:

• shame;
• repulsion;
• and morality.

After all, these characteristics are meant to weather the further storm of puberty and to ground the path of awakening sexual desires (FADIMAN & FRAGER, 1986, p.15).

Principle governing the superego

"It can then be stated that the governing principle of the superego is the moral one, which makes it responsible for the reprehension of unresolved sexual impulses in the phallic phase (the period between five and ten years of age called latency). In this phase the pre-genital impulses that did not succeed [...] will be, from then on, repressed or transformed into socially productive activities" (REIS; MAGALHÃES,GONÇALVES, 1984, p.40, 41).

The latency period is characterized by the desire to learn. The child accumulates knowledge and becomes more independent, that is, he begins to have notions of right and wrong, and is better able to control his destructive and antisocial impulses.

The control of the Superego

A series of events take place in order to reinforce the control of the superego, in this way the old fear of castration is replaced by the fear of:

• diseases;
• of the loss;
• of death;
• or loneliness.

At this moment, the internalization of the feeling of guilt when considering wrong The interdiction becomes internal as well and is carried out by the superego.

That is, it is as if [...] "you hear this prohibition inside you. Now, it no longer matters the action to feel guilty: the thought, the desire to do something bad takes care of it." (BOCK, 2002, p.77).

The care of the individual at an early age

Most children from the age of five and up already speak, even though they have a limited vocabulary. internalizes and helps build the superego, which is formed by the answers they receive from their parents and teachers to questions raised by them, such as about life, time, death, aging.

Therefore, the latency period is a phase of construction of values that will guide the individual's conduct as in the other phases.

In addition, it is important to answer questions about sexuality and death carefully and responsibly, because the child is heavily influenced by the language, thus avoiding in the future a frustration by the received answer.

Exemplifying the action of the superego

To exemplify the action of the superego in the life of an individual, D'Andrea (1987) gives the following example:

[...] a child introjects the figure of a father who often says that money is the most important thing in life. Then, in the child's superego, the concept is created that the right thing is to have money. This partial information obtained from the father can later be projected onto a figure in the external world [...] this same figure can be a user [greedy person] (D'ANDREA, 1987, p.77)

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Manifestations of the Superego

The superego is compared to a filter or sensor, and is influenced by religious principles, culture, people's history, etc. Therefore, this status for "living well in relation" is called "conscience" or "voice of conscience", and is the one known in psychoanalytic nomenclature, since the publication of Freud's Ego and Id, in 1923.

O Superego is the third of the instances of which the psychic apparatus consists in Freud's hypothetical topography. Thus, the activity of the Superego can manifest itself in various ways. Thus, it can govern the activities of the Ego - in particular the anti-instinctive, defensive activities - according to its moral standards.

Giving rise to punitive feelings

O Superego It also functions in a way that gives rise, within the ego, to a feeling of guilt, remorse, or a desire to do penance or reparation.

We can add that Superego constitutes the whole process of education and control of society, exercised in a systematic and unsystematic way.

These are the five functions of the superego :

• self-observation;
• the moral conscience;
• oneiric censorship;
• the main influence on repression;
• the exaltation of ideals.

The overly rigid superego makes one sick

It is usually called hyperrigid superego when the mind follows too many, too strict, too detailed moral and social rules. With that, the ego basically:

• would only satisfy the superego (idealizations, interdictions, shame, fears of frustrating others, etc.) and
• would yield to nothing or almost nothing of the id and the subject's own desire.

In the hyperrigid superego, only the desire of others has a place in the subject's psyche The subject, then, internalizes rules, interdictions and idealizations that erase other dimensions of desire that are potentially his own. Even if this is a "free choice" or a social structuring seen as inescapable, the subject perceives a great psychic tension that generates symptoms (such as anxiety or anguish).

O weakened ego may be as a result of a very rigid superego: the ego does not negotiate well between individual desire and social pressures, because it only yields to the latter.

The question would be, to each analyzer, to understand:

• which are his demands for "healing", that is, what are the reasons that lead him to treatment;
• how these demands affect the analisand, that is, what it is for the analisand to have a certain symptom;
• in what sense the analyzing one is silencing his own desire to make room for the desire of others.

With this, both the very rigid superego can give way, and the ego can become stronger, because theoretically it will be in a condition of better self-knowledge and less psychic tension. This can occur from the beginning of treatment (or preliminary interviews) in psychoanalysis.

A person may have very strict morals for reasons related to family upbringing, religion, ideology, among other reasons.

The task of psychoanalytic therapy is ego-strengthening, which would be:

• Knowing how to deal with psychic issues and external reality;
• Knowing how to place his desire in a place between the id and the superego, that is, in a comfortable place where enjoyment and coexistence are possible;
• give new meaning to their life trajectory and future projects; and
• allow reasonable coexistence with the "egos" of other people.

Final considerations about the superego

The Superego represents all the moral constraints and all the impulses towards perfection. Therefore, if we work with aspects related to authority, such as the state, science, school, police, religion, therapy, etc., we must understand what the superego is. And so, preventing our moral dictates from stifling people's freedom and creativity .

To learn even more about it and other subjects, enroll in our training course in Clinical Psychoanalysis. After all, knowledge of its existence and ways of acting is a great help in understanding different symptoms, man's social behavior, and the comprehension of his desire.