Question

Yasir finds $100 in cash outside of a supermarket. He thinks about how that money could help him pay his bills, but ultimately decides to do the right thing and turn the money over to the police. According to Freud, which part of the mind helped Yasir make this decision? Hint: It's the part of the mind that acts as the conscience.

Answer 1

Yasir's decision to return the found money to the police is guided by his superego, which acts as his conscience and moral compass.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory, the part of the mind that helped Yasir decide to turn the money over to the police is the superego. The superego acts as our conscience and operates as our moral compass, guiding us toward what is considered socially acceptable behavior. It develops through social interactions and internalizes the rules of right and wrong. The superego is responsible for feelings of guilt when we fall short of our moral ideals and feelings of pride when we act in morally commendable ways. In Yasir's case, although there may have been an impulsive desire to keep the money (potentially driven by the id, which operates on the pleasure principle), the superego prevailed, leading him to act ethically by turning the money in.