A client frequently expresses intense feelings of guilt and self-criticism after minor mistakes, striving for perfection and strict adherence to rules. According to Freud's psychoanalytic theory, which function of the superego best explains this behavior?

it internalizes societal and parental standards to enforce moral judgments.

It mediates between the demands of the id and the constraints of reality.

It represses unconscious conflicts to reduce anxiety and protect the ego.

It seeks immediate gratification of instinctual desires regardless of consequences.