The human psyche is a very interesting phenomenon. Formed in the process of historical evolution, represents the highest stage of development. Due to the presence of leading and active reflection, which is carried out by the brain and sense organs, a person is able to not only adapt to the surrounding reality, but also actively and constantly change it.
Due to the fact that the psyche is so complex, two layers “stand out” - conscious and unconscious. A large number of works by the scientist Z. Freud, who could explain a lot in their functioning and answer some basic questions, were devoted to the study of this aspect.
In ancient times, it was believed that a person has only consciousness, so he can control almost everything. But the dissonance that exists in the psychic life constantly posed new questions. People always wanted to find the answer to the following questions:
- How do dreams come about?
- How can they be interpreted?
- Why does a person have dreams?
- How are automatic actions and skills formed?
- Because of what does a person make clerical errors and reservations?
- How does a strong desire arise?
Therefore, sooner or later, the question that there is a conscious and unconscious in the human psyche should have arisen. The latter phenomenon was considered by scientists as a piggy bank of all repressed, secret thoughts and desires of a person.
But one cannot say that the conscious and the unconscious have a close relationship. To be more precise, they most likely act as "neighbors" who live in the same house, but very rarely visit each other. So, a person who is conscious can not always guess about his hidden thoughts and desires, which are stored in the unconscious. These neighbors do not always “get along well” and don’t fully know what the other “does”. Let us consider in more detail how the conscious and unconscious “agree” with each other, based on the concept of personality structure, which was developed by Z. Freud.
According to her, our consciousness, called "I", is a collection of knowledge about the inner and outer worlds. Therefore, a person has an idea that he is a representative of the species Homo sapiens, what is his name, social status, and so on. This layer covers the system of all the most important cognitive processes that help enrich all knowledge. But, in such an interpretation, a person would remain a self-developing robot. Only the complex "conscious and unconscious" is able to "revive" such a psyche. How?
The Unconscious ("IT") performs a stimulating function. Thanks to needs and motives, a person is able to constantly move forward, trying to achieve what he wants in a particular area of his life. But, if he follows his every desire, he will be similar in behavior to an animal.
That is why Z. Freud singled out the third component in the structure of personality - “SUPER-I”, which is very important for the socialization of a person. What is its function?
TOP-I covers those areas of the human psyche that make him a member of social space. It includes: morality, value orientations, ideals. It is the moral component that is able to "pacify" the unconscious "IT", dictating to the human mind what to do in accordance with the norms and laws adopted in this society. Parents of the child are responsible for the formation of this layer, since it is "filled" in preschool and school ages.
So it turns out how closely connected morality, consciousness and the unconscious. Human psychology cannot fully function without their participation.