A child goes to market with his father, likes a candy, takes it off the shelf and eats it. According to Freud’s theory of personality development, child’s actions are being guided by:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Pleasure Principle
Option (1) Superego — Incorrect. The superego is the moral branch of mental functioning; it tells the id and the ego whether a gratification is ethical. It would have stopped the child from eating a candy that was not paid for.
Option (2) Principle of Morality — Incorrect. This is the standard the superego works by: whether an action is right or wrong, as learnt from parental authority through socialisation. The child gives no thought to right or wrong.
Option (3) Pleasure Principle — Correct. The id seeks immediate gratification of primitive needs and works on the pleasure principle: people seek pleasure and try to avoid pain. The child likes the candy and eats it at once, without asking, which is the id at work.
Option (4) Principle of Reality — Incorrect. The ego works by the reality principle and directs the id towards more appropriate ways of behaving. A boy who wants an ice-cream cone is told by his ego to ask for permission before eating it, or he may be punished; the child here does not wait or ask.
NCERT (2025-26): “Structure of Personality … According to Freud’s theory, the primary structural elements of personality are three, i.e. id, ego, and superego.…” “Id : … It is the source of a person’s instinctual energy. It deals with immediate gratification of primitive needs, sexual desires and aggressive impulses. It works on the pleasure principle, which assumes that people seek pleasure and try to avoid pain. Freud considered much of a person’s instinctual energy to be sexual, and the rest as aggressive. Id does not care for moral values, society, or other individuals.…” “Ego : … Thus, while the id is demanding, unrealistic and works according to pleasure principle, the ego is patient, reasonable, and works by the reality principle.…” “Superego : … The best way to characterise the superego is to think of it as the moral branch of mental functioning. The superego tells the id and the ego whether gratification in a particular instance is ethical.…” |