Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was the founder of the psychoanalytic theory, he thought that the psychoanalysis could be treated as a science. He emphasized on the influence of unconscious mind on our behaviour. Freud argued that ordinary speech may contain hidden meanings of the unconscious.

Our mind has three levels. The conscious mind includes everything that we are aware of. The preconscious mind is that part which represents the ordinary memory which we can retrieve. The third level is the unconscious mind which has all our thoughts, memories and urges. Our mind has three aspects which determine our personality and work together to create our behaviour.

1. Id

-Id is a component which is present since birth and it is the source of all our psychic energy. Id consists of all unchecked urges, primal pleasures and desires. It tries to resolves the tensions by forming a mental image of desired objects.
2. Ego

- Ego is the moral and self-aware aspect of mind, it is a component of personality which is responsible for dealing with reality. Ego is the ideal set up in a child’s mind, it is the ideal image of how a person thinks they should be or what he spurs to achieve. Ego tries to achieve the desires of Id in a socially acceptable and realistic manner.

3. Superego

- It is like a censor for id that is why we struggle to remember our dreams, it holds our internalized moral standards and our ideals. Our desires can be disturbing but the disturbing content is translated into acceptable symbolic form to preserve sleep and prevent us from waking up shocked. 
Ego Ideal -It includes what is regarded as good behaviour

Conscience- It includes what is regarded as bad behaviour.

To maintain the standards of morality people are expected to conduct themselves in ways in which others respect them and consider them civilized and thus their sexuality is suppressed. Having more than one partner is considered evil. Religious morality also affects the sexual morality. Modern civilization requires more repression of the desires so many people become discontented. This repression of the sexual instincts form the dream symbols. So dreams are symbolic and our wishes in disguise. Some people can repress their desires but the mind contains a flow of energy which it discharges during the dream state.

Events which are seen as fairly common or having no real significance reveals the unconscious. Every action is motivated by our unconscious at some level and nothing occurs by chance. We hold back our urges and so these impulses are released through dreams. Content of dream is nonsensical and gives a look into our unconscious. Dreams may have meanings derived from past. We start with one dream symbol and follow what automatically comes to our mind. The images of the dreams are classified into five different processes

1. Displacement
- Dreams contain symbols where one thing stands for another and desire for a thing is symbolised by something else. For e.g. a single female character can play many roles in a person’s dreams.

2. Projection
-When one propel dreams onto another person.
3. Symbolization
-Our repressed urges are acted out metaphorically.

4. Condensation
-A single element can have several meanings. Feelings are hidden and underplayed into a brief dream.
5. Rationalization

-It is the final stage where the dream is organized into a logical sequence and a secondary revision occurs.

Freud believed that instincts are important for survival. They create an energy. When the energy created by death instincts is directed towards others it is expressed as violence. Instinctual wishes are linked to a representative idea. When the energies of the id become focused, this libido becomes the driving force behind our behaviour

 Babies internalize cultural values and symbols but also reject some attempts to behave in a particular way. If the primary care of a new born baby is carried out by a male such situations may alter child’s choices. During the oral stage child explores the world using their mouth. Oral fixation leads to problems like smoking or nail biting.

During the anal stage a child learns to control the bodily functions. Child becomes independent. If the parents’ don’t praise and encourage and instead become strict the child tends to become obsessive.

A child becomes aware of the difference between male and female during the phallic stage when proper personality development occurs. Boys begin to view their fathers as rivals whereas girls experience envy about genetic organs.  Girls have a feminine part in their unconscious in which they seek love from their father or male figure in their life.

Genital stage leads to the reawakening of sexual interest. It establishes a balance between various life areas. Thus, Sigmund Freud has given many influential theories and these ideas had a strong impact on the psychology.