What did Sigmund Freud say about personality ?

Personality is what sets you different from the world. Its your uniqueness. No two person can have the same personality although they can have similar personality but not same. Personality comes both from genetics and experience (external factor) we draw from world. The academic pool has yet not settled on a standard definition of personality. Then to define a personality would definitely be a transgression. Lets look at how Sigmund Freud described personality.

Sigmund Freud (Neurologist),

Sigmund Freud suggested that our personality is composed of 3 parts :

• id : That part of personality which looks for instant gratification. When we urges, impulses or desires which are innate. Freud said that this part is governed from the unconscious. A person shall seek the pleasure without considering the potential cost of it. It seems that this part of personality is inherited and innate. Whenever the tension increases as a consequence of increase in energy due to external or internal stimuli the person seeks to discharge excess energy and lower tension. 

This reduction in tension operates on pleasure principal. The id itself operates on pleasure principal. The persons seeks to avoid pain and obtain pleasure.

• Ego : It controls your action. It is executive part of your personality (in some sense acts as control). Example, you want to get married but to a good looking individual. Considering yourself as man who know that a good job ante ups your chances to find a wonderful woman. So you will first try to look for a good job then look for a prospect. The desire (id) is the reason for your good job. The Ego is what made you wait for it and struggle till you found a decent job.

The Ego follows the reality principle. What reality principal does is that it allows for suspension of pleasure principal till you find the object which you desire. 

• Super Ego : Its the moral compass of the person. It represents an ideal that people strive for in their lives. A moral perfection that which will allow person to gratify only when its normative. This part of person is influenced by society (civil society) and parents (family) and our experiences with it. 

There are three main functions that a SuperEgo performs 

1. Control or inhibit over the impusles/desires (id) 
2. Persuade the Ego to substitute realistic goals with moral goals.
3. Strive for perfection.

To conclude, 

Freud explained his theory of personality in terms of energy. Since at time there was much emphasis on Physics and Science. The energy cannot be created or destroyed rather transformed. So our personality seems to be affected by change in energy(mental to physical or vice versa) and our psychic energy (thinking) interplay.