(a) Are the executive and the religious leader trying to mislead others in order to avoid punishment? Or are they trying to deceive themselves so they will feel less guilt? (b) The superego of the...

(a) Are the executive and the religious leader trying to mislead others in order to avoid punishment? Or are they trying to deceive themselves so they will feel less guilt? (b) The superego of the chief executive offi cer may be too weak, perhaps because appropriate standards of right and wrong were not taught by his parents. Or the executive’s ego may be too weak to resist the selfi sh demands of the id, perhaps because he was severely frustrated (or overly gratifi ed) during early childhood and there was too much fi xation at a pregenital stage of development. The religious leader may be engaging in denial of reality by believing that the abusive subordinates will change their ways, and he may be accepting the “illusion” that some benevolent Deity will eventually intercede and make everything right.