Final answer:
The superego is the moral and ethical component of the personality, not the mediating force. The ego is responsible for finding a practical balance between the unrealistic idealism of the superego and the impulsive desires of the id, thus the true mediator in Freud's personality model.
Step-by-step explanation:
True or False: The superego is a component of the personality that acts as the person's balance or mediating force. The statement is false. The superego, according to Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche, is not the mediating force but rather the aspect of the personality that serves as one's moral compass or conscience.
The superego strives for perfection, judging our behaviors and leading to feelings of pride or guilt if we fall short of ideal standards. It embodies our internalized social standards for right and wrong, which we acquire through interactions with caregivers and society at large. The ego, on the other hand, is the part of the personality that operates on the reality principle; its job is to mediate the demands of the id, which seeks immediate gratification, and the ideals of the superego, in the context of reality. It's concerned with devising a realistic means to satisfy the id's desires without incurring guilt from the superego. Hence, it is the ego and not the superego that is the balance or mediating force in personality. An imbalance among these three components - id, ego, and superego - can lead to psychological distress and neurosis, according to Freudian theory.