Evolution and the Superego Freud may have been on the right track when he theorized that the human personality consisted of an id, ego, and superego. Now researchers are using evolutionary theory to demonstrate that the old Viennese couchmeister was on to something. Uniting several scientific fields, investigators at Emory University in Atlanta, and other research institutions are closing in on the superego, the social consciousness that provides awareness of the cultural world outside the self. This time is key to adapting cultural values, as well as acquiring a belief system. Bing and his multidisciplinary colleagues have defined what they call an evolution of enculturation.
Kids develop the ability to internalize feelings, understand the perspective of others.
They learn moral reasoning. Through play with other children, they learn to generate rules, negotiate them, set moral codes on their own, not just acquire what adults dictate to them. Child-parent conflict is also important during this extended childhood. Through this conflict, says James Chisholm, of the University of Western Australia, kids are motivated to get information from other social and cultural sources. Disagreeing with their parents' perspective, children turn to their own social and cultural mores, which point them to other forms of authority.