In the Freudian model of the psyche the
hypothetical entity associated with ethical and moral conduct and conceptualized
as responsible for self-imposed standards of behavior. The superego is
frequently characterized as an internalized code or, more popularly, as a kind
of conscience punishing transgressions with feelings of guilt. In the classical
psychoanalytic literature, the superego is assumed to develop in response to the
punishments and rewards of significant persons (usually the parents), which
results in the child becoming inculcated with the moral code of the community.
Whereas the id is conceptualized as concerned with the pleasurable and the ego
with the actual, the superego is viewed as being concerned with the ideal.