The concept of the ideal self is as straightforward as it seems: the version of yourself that you would most like to be is your ideal self. The concept of self-image captures how you view and conceive of yourself. Your social and private selves, respectively, describe how you act in front of others versus how you tend to behave when unobserved.

Self-verification is a theory in social psychology that describes the phenomenon of accepting and integrating information that is consistent with one's current self-concept. This theory also posits that we actively avoid, ignore, or reject information that does not align with our current concept of self even if it is positive or complimentary. For example, an individual exhibiting the phenomenon of self-verification theory may disregard compliments that she is pretty because it does not verify or confirm her self-concept of being unattractive.

Downward social comparison describes the perspective of looking 'down' to those of less fortune or greater hardships in order to cheer up. Often we will hear, "Oh, yeah, you are going through a rough time, but it could be worse. I know a guy who...(enter an even worse case scenario)." Sometimes, these little anecdotes can help us gain perspective and feel better, whereas upward social comparisons tend to make us feel worse about ourselves. For example, comparing oneself to a successful movie actor or Nobel Prize winner may leave one feeling pretty inadequate.

Although there are many advantages to having high self-esteem and is arguably the key to success and overall contentment in life, there are some potential pitfalls. One of which is a sort of "rose-tinted glasses" effect on your beliefs about your good qualities and capabilities. This is not narcissistic in nature, where narcissism is actually deeply rooted in low self-worth.

These beliefs stem in the belief that one is a capable human being worthy in many aspects, though sometimes on an "objective scale" these beliefs may not be true. For instance, a person who gets bad grades but high self-esteem may still believe they are smart and this leads them to work harder and get better grades. 

Our interpersonal self is the self that is composed of norms for how we should behave in certain social scenarios. For instance, how we behave as a daughter is different for how we behave as a friend. These behaviors that we exercise in certain social situations are indications of our "interpersonal selves".

The process of introspection is an essential process is the development of one's sense of self. Usually, introspection involves reasoning about why we do things, why we make certain decisions, and general self-questioning. Introspection is not always accurate, however, and we may have a more accurate view of ourselves from other people.

Social psychology emphasizes how people are affected by social interaction on both micro and macro scales. These interactions have a deep impact on how we as people feel about ourselves. What happens in our interactions with others will become apart of how we view ourselves. For instance, if a lot of people do not view you as being very smart and convey this in their interactions, you may tend to think of yourself as not being smart.

Current views in the psychology of self claim that the self plays an integral role in social identity, cognition, affect, and human motivation. That is, one's own perceptions and definitions of who they are will influence us in a variety of important ways. How we define ourselves can influence where we position ourselves socially, how we reason about the world and our environment, our feelings, and what we are motivated to do in life. If we perceive ourselves to be intelligent, for instance, we may identify with a more intelligent group of people, and this would be our social identity.

As opposed to other theories, which define the sense of self as belonging to our perceptions or otherwise, John Locke viewed the self as heavily bound with our episodic memories. This is because our episodic memories help us create a narrative about our lives and ourselves and thus creates a sense of continuity that, for instance, the semantic memory would not. 

Our interpersonal self is composed of the rules of behavior, or "norms," that guide us to act in certain ways in particular social situations. For instance, the norms for how we behave will guide us to act one way as a student in school and another as a friend to someone. These norms constantly change but no matter what it is expected to adapt in order to get along in society. People who defy norms are referred to as "deviant," though this is not at all a negative term. Some social norms can be harmful, such as racist attitudes, and acted deviant towards them can drive social change.