"According to Freud, we are born with our Id. The id is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows us to get our basic needs met. Freud believed that the id is based on our pleasure principle. In other words, the id wants whatever feels good at the time, with no consideration for the reality of the situation. When a child is hungry, the id wants food, and therefore the child cries. When the child needs to be changed, the id cries. When the child is uncomfortable, in pain, too hot, too cold, or just wants attention, the id speaks up until his or her needs are met.

The id doesn't care about reality, about the needs of anyone else, only its own satisfaction. If you think about it, babies are not real considerate of their parents' wishes. They have no care for time, whether their parents are sleeping, relaxing, eating dinner, or bathing. When the id wants something, nothing else is important.

Within the next three years, as the child interacts more and more with the world, the second part of the personality begins to develop. Freud called this part the Ego. The ego is based on the reality principle. The ego understands that other people have needs and desires and that sometimes being impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the long run. Its the ego's job to meet the needs of the id, while taking into consideration the reality of the situation.

By the age of five, or the end of the phallic stage of development, the Superego develops. The Superego is the moral part of us and develops due to the moral and ethical restraints placed on us by our caregivers. Many equate the superego with the conscience as it dictates our belief of right and wrong.

In a healthy person, according to Freud, the ego is the strongest so that it can satisfy the needs of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation. Not an easy job by any means, but if the id gets too strong, impulses and self gratification take over the person's life. If the superego becomes to strong, the person would be driven by rigid morals, would be judgmental and unbending in his or her interactions with the world."

The id are instincts (eat, sleep, sex), the ego makes sure that the id's drives will prevent excess and benefit the person, while the super-ego takes care of the consequences on the long run.

I've always thought of the Id as the primitive, animal part of the self, whereas the Super-ego is the idealized self which deals with loftier notions such as morality and ethics.

The Ego is basically your self-esteem. It keeps the Id - your animal urges - in check, and acts a kind of working compromise between the two extremes of the Id and the Super-ego.

Freud's theories are fascinating and certainly many of them, including this one, must contain many elements of truth. However, we are talking about ideas he published in the early 1920s.

Researchers have had many decades to test, refine and even discard many of his ideas. Take a look at the fields of cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, physiological psychology, or any of the various contemporary approaches to psychology.