Continuing the previous Post, as we have said before,[1] Ego refers to values, ideas, opinions and tastes, i.e, to the baggage that makes up one’s self-perception. It operates through the contention of anguish, which enables one to socialize and, hence, TO achieve emotional balance. It works, then, as their “healthy emotional side”. If we think about the “moral script”/psychological ground of individuals in Freud’s time, i.e, the time of the prevalence of superego”[2] [3], we will find in it strength, discipline and more repressing behaviors regarding limits, hierarchies, and reverence for older people, who used to be their idols, and who symbolized wisdom. In fact, for Freud, love and work, i.e having a family and a job, were responsible for giving purpose/direction to people’s lives, thus, in that context, it made perfectly sense to think of a decompression psychotherapy, since it would help to relax rigid and repressed Egos in need of expansion. This psychotherapy was known as psychoanalysis. However, if we think of the context of Millennials today, we might wonder if this still makes sense, for, at this point. After all, Boomers psychological social ground is gone, and Millennials psychological ground is utterly different from Boomer’s. In this age of Millennials, there are less taboos regarding sexuality, less limits, less repression, and there is much more dialogue and negotiation between parents and children. However, we shall not forget that superego, as a symbolic instance, continues to exist, and that sexual repression and self-restraint as identity models have become outdated. This has led, as it seems, to Millennials having very little to expand or decompress, and, more often, lacking contour. On this point, Dias[4] that, instead of a decompression psychotherapy, these new individuals would benefit most from a contour oriented psychotherapy, since repression is not really the strongest personality trait of the Millennials. Moreover, we can infer from the work in the psychotherapy clinic today that these new individuals seem to have more difficulties with obligations and discipline compared to the previous generation. Now, if one’s life purpose is no longer taken for granted, then there is room for a lot of possibilities, and, as we can see, expectations from the family and society, regarding personal achievements, have become quite high. These expectations appear on the assumption that once people find their (personal) motivations, they will certainly lead them to integrated and well-succeed lives. This change in cultural values is progressively being established as a new “social psychological ground”. In other words, it is expected, unlike before, that people have doubts about their purposes in life, that they can change career and, eventually, find the right path which will lead them to happiness. And this matters because it becomes the measure of failure or success. It is, therefore, important to highlight that we are talking about people who grow up taking sexual and existential freedom for granted, people who feel free to question, to challenge and to seek different directions for their lives, but who, on the other hand, seem to find a great deal of difficulties in achieving them.
To be continued on the next Post
[1] For more details see Pots 4- Culture and Ego, in Essay 7 Cultural Influences on Identity. In: www.ceciliapsicologa.org
[1] Superego is a concept created by Freud to explain the moral civilization boundaries that are taken for granted. He refers to fathers’ role as a symbolic function in giving limits to exclusive attention babies use to demand from mothers. It is as a mark of first experiences of frustration, which are crucial for the babies’ healthy sociability later on. In a second phase, Freud changes his view and focuses his attention on death Instinct. From that time on, Superego semantically slips to act as an autonomous, guilty and, eventually, sadistic energy towards Ego. According to La Planche, Superego acts “(…) like a judge or censor regarding Ego. Freud sees moral consciousness, self-observation and building of ideals as Superego functions” (free translation) la Planche and Pontalis. 2001. Psychoanalysis Vocabulary. Martin Fontes: 497-300.
[1] See also VII Block. Episode 2. Adolescence in Digital Era. Part 1 in: Talking about Psychology with Cecilia Leite in YouTube
[1] Dias, V.S. Evolution of Sexual Identity. In: Structural diagnosis of Conjugal Bond (2000). Ágora. SP.
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