Effortful control is the third dimension of Mary K. Rothbart's model of temperament. According to Rothbart, effortful control is the highest indicator of what will predict long-term happiness. It includes a low threshold for pleasure and ability to be in control of one's desires. People who have a high effortful control will often make committed decisions and work hard.

Adolescents deny their negative characteristics in order to protect themselves while on their quest for self-understanding. They do not necessarily isolate themselves from all types of people, nor do all of them make many friends just because they are afraid to be alone.

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.

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.

Self-handicapping behaviors are actions people take to handicap their own performances in order to build an excuse for anticipated failures. These times of purposely setting up for failure are to the end of preserving self-esteem in the individual; it is a self-protective measure.

According to Carl Rogers’ theory of what makes up our sense of self, a person's self image is a composite of how we view our physical and personal traits. Some people may have an unhealthy self-image (i.e. people who believe that they are overweight when they are not and resort to self-starvation). Some others have an inflated self-image that may not correspond with reality (e.g. they see themselves as more intelligent, attractive, etc).

Young people have a strong tendency to identify more with their personality traits than with their proscribed social roles. That is, they'll identify themselves with various adjectives--"I'm smart, funny, attractive, impulsive, excitable." As people age, they think more about their social roles and what they perform for others. Roles are much more active, in the sense that person does things to perform them. For instance, a father provides resources for his children.

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.

Determinism, with regards to psychology, is the belief that your personal past will ultimately define who you turn out to be and the kinds of choices you will make. Determinism is a popular foundation for many psychological theories, mainly those in the behaviorist or psychoanalytic camp. There are such things as biological determinism, where genetics determine who you are, but that has little to do with determinism in psychology, which is more concerned with a person's life experiences.

As defined by the APA, a person's gender identity refers to “one’s sense of oneself as male, female, or transgender”, and determines the pronouns (he/she/ze) that they prefer. "Sex" refers to physical sex characteristics. Sexual orientation refers to one's preference in terms of sexual partners. Gender role refers to societally conditioned roles played by individuals in their society or community (usually based on traditional gender norms).