Final answer:
The ego operates on the reality principle, balancing the id's pleasure-seeking drives with the moral control of the superego to maintain a healthy personality.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Freud, the ego, which evolves from the id and which creates ways to get what one wants in a world full of rules, operates on the reality principle. The ego is the rational part of our personality that balances the instinctual desires of the id, operating on the pleasure principle, with the moral and societal expectations of the superego. It navigates between these competing demands by finding realistic ways to satisfy the id's desires without falling short of the superego's ideals, thereby maintaining a healthy personality and preventing the anxieties that arise from the id-superego conflict.