Freud’s Ego in the Cockpit

Abstract

In the early 1900's, Sigmund Freud theorized the three parts of a person's personality: the id, the ego, and the superego. The ego controls the id's desires because they may have consequences or not be socially acceptable. A person experiences defense mechanisms to protect his or her ego. Although psychologists view defense mechanisms as a typically healthy way to deal with a problem, the aviation industry sees them as dangers to the safety of flights. Many aircraft accidents have occurred because the pilot had a strong ego, and was unconsciously defending it. Crew members must learn to recognize defense mechanisms in themselves and in their crew. Once recognized, an antidote should be applied. Usually, following prescribed procedures by the Federal Aviation Administration or the airline can help counter the effects of a strong ego. This can make for a safer cockpit. Psychology Introduction: The First Ps~choanalvst Sigmund Freud (1 856-1 939) was amedical doctor, psychologist, and an influential thinker of the early twentieth century, but he is best known as the founder of psychoanalysis. (Romanian Association for Psychoanalysis Promotion, 1999) According to Time Magazine, the fhdamental idea of his new science of the time is that, "all humans are endowed with an unconscious in which potent sexual and aggressive drives, and defenses against them, struggle for supremacy, as it were, behind a person's back." (Gay, 1999) Freud studied stages of development, dream interpretation, and personalities. He also began the practice of 'couch therapy.' Many of his ideas have been deemed as 'unscientific' by modem psychologists, but some of Freud's theories still apply to today's world, especially his theory of personality. (Thornton, 200 1) Psvchoanalvtic Theory of Personality According to Sigmund Freud, the personality is a tripartite, or composed of three elements that work together to create complex human behaviors: the id, the ego, and the superego. (He&er, 1999) The most primitive element of the personality, the id, is present fiom birth. The id operates according to the pleasure principle; its two goals are to seek pleasure and to avoid pain. The id does not rely on reality or logic, but rather demands immediate satisfaction for its basic needs, including those for life (eros) and for aggressionldeath (thanatos). The id is important to infants because they cannot meet their basic needs themselves. If they are hungry or feeling unsafe, the id makes them cry to have their needs addressed. Around age three, the second component of personality, the ego, develops. In 1923, Freud called the ego, ''that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world." Unlike the id, the ego understands that others also have needs and desires, and that actions have consequences. "The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways." (McLeod, 2007) The ego is not a sense of right or wrong. It simply seeks an end that does not harm itself or the id. Usually, the ego can appease the id's impulses through delayed gratification, when the behavior can take place at an acceptable time and place. A child develops his or her superego by the time he or she is five years old. This part of the personality consists of a person's morals acquired fiom caregivers and from JAAER, Fall 201 1 Page 9 9 O'Bryan: Freud’s Ego in the Cockpit Published by Scholarly Commons, 2011 Freud's Ego in the Cockpit society. The superego controls feelings of right and wrong. Many consider this to be a person's conscience. It works to suppress the id's unacceptable urges, like those for sex and aggression. The superego also tries to force the ego to act on idealistic/moralistic standards, rather than just realistic ones. (Cherry, The Id, Ego, and Superego: The Structural Model of Personality, 2005) Sigmund Freud preached that the key to a healthy personality is to maintain a balance between the id, the ego, and the superego. The ego is constantly seeking this healthy balance. It must be the strongest element so, "it can satisfy the needs of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation." (Hefher, 1999) Freud termed the ego's ability to function despite these contradicting forces 'ego strength.' "A person with good ego strength is able to effectively manage these pressures, while those with too much or too little ego strength can become too unyielding or too disrupting." (Hefher, 1999) This research paper will focus largely on the ego. Protecting the Ego When the ego cannot handle the id's demands, the constraints of reality, and the superego's moral standards, the person experiences anxiety. According to Freud, "anxiety is an unpleasant inner state that people seek to avoid." Anxiety is the first sign that something is wrong, and the person will then exhibit defense mechanisms to protect his or her ego. This is typically done unconsciously, but it may also happen knowingly. Although it is a distortion of reality, defense mechanisms can simply be a way to adapt to a situation in order for a person can function normally. At the same time, they can become unhealthy when overused to avoid confronting problems. Many exist today, but Sigmund Freud, and later his daughter Anna, identified the basic nine defense mechanisms: repression, denial, rationalization, projection, reaction formation, intellectualization, regression, displacement, and sublimation. (Clark, 2004) First, repression is also known as 'motivated forgetting.' It acts to keep certain memories out of conscious awareness, but they continue to influence a person's behavior. This may have occurred if a person has a phobia, but doesn't know where it originated fiom. Denial is repression taken to an extreme level. "Denial is an outright refusal to admit or recognize that something has occurred or is currently occurring." It acts to protect the ego fiom situations it cannot deal with, for example, a doctor's diagnosis of a terminal illness. (Hefier, 1999) Next, rationalization is the defense mechanism that involves making excuses to defend behavior, simultaneously avoiding the true reasons for it. This protects the ego's selfesteem by blaming fault on someone or something else, like when a speeder blames his or her speeding ticket on the police officer, a lack of signs, or the speedometer. Similarly, projection is placing your own unacceptable qualities, feelings, or impulses onto someone else. This will allow a person to express and criticize the impulse, but without the ego recognizing it. The threat is eliminated, and self-esteem is maintained. Reaction formation is taking the opposite belief, impulse, or behavior because the true belief causes anxiety. A modern example of making a reaction formation is when a secretly gay man engages in many heterosexual affairs to disguise his homosexuality. The person goes overboard in the other direction. Next, intellectualization occurs when a person avoids seeming unacceptable emotions by focusing on the intellectual aspects of the situation. Like all defense mechanisms, intellectualization can have positive consequences. If a rape victim were to experience intellectualization, she would educate herself on information and statistics of rape, take self-defense classes, and possibly even teach these things to other women and men. Even though she is making her traumatic experience into a positive outcome, it is unhealthy to repress the emotional side of the event. Eventually, those feelings will have to be addressed. Regression is when a person moves back in development to a time when he or she felt safe and secure, often childhood. It may be as inconspicuous as a student taking his or her old stuffed animal to college, or as extreme as an adult throwing a temper tantrum in public. Finally, displacement involves taking out hstrations, feelings, or impulses on people or objects that are less threatening. The less threatening option is referred to as the scapegoat. This happens every day. An example of displacement is when a man has a stresshl day at work. Instead of arguing with his boss and potentially getting fired, he goes home and yells at his wife or throws an inanimate object to relieve his anger. In contrast, sublimation is when a person acts out his or her impulses in a socially acceptable form. A person with a great need for order may become a scientist; or a person with excess anger could choose to be a professional football player. People who succumb to sublimation are often admired for finding their 'true calling.' Freud viewed this defense mechanism as a sign of maturity, allowing people to protect their egos while functioning normally in a very socially acceptable, Page 10 JAAER, Fall 201 1 10 Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research, Vol. 21, No. 1 [2011], Art. 5 https://commons.erau.edu/jaaer/vol21/iss1/5 Freud's Ego in the Cockpit even productive, way. (Cherry, Defense Mechanisms, 2006) Aviation How Ego Affects the Cocbit Like every other profession, pilots are affected by their ego and their need to protect it. The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Aviation Instructor 's Handbook cautions about the dangers of defense mechanisms in the cockpit. Ultimately, defense mechanisms are a distortion of reality. "Thus, they alleviate the symptoms, not the causes, and do not solve problems." (Federal Aviation Administration, 2009) The Handbook goes on to say that defense mechanisms are unconscious, and therefore, "not subject to normal conscious checks and balances." In addition, it says that once the person is aware that he or she is exhibiting a defense mechanism, his or her behavior becomes, "an ineffective way of satisfying a need." Different fiom Freud's view, the FAA sees ego and defense mechanisms as a threat to safety. According to Commercial Aviation Safety, "Interactions [among crew mem