Question

After making a New Year's resolution to eat healthy foods, you decide to have a bite of ice cream and end up eating most of a carton instead. You feel guilty about not maintaining your resolution. According to the psychodynamic approach, what part of the mind is responsible for your reaction of guilt to your own behavior?

Answer 1

Answer: Superego

Explanation: According to Freud, the superego is part of the mind that regulates, the moral ethical aspects of personality. In addition, there is an ID as part of the mind that "engages in" personal gain, and an ego that is a balance between ID and superego. Superego is a part of the mind that "forces" us to be moral, to keep our word, to evaluate the harm we have done to others and to ourselves. Thus, the sense of guilt is naturally linked to this part of the mind that encourages us to think and feel guilty if we depart from moral principles.