According to Argyle's conception of self-actualization, people aspire to minimize the incongruity between who they are (their "actual self") and who they want to be (their "ideal self"). The more a person is different from their "ideal self," the self they aspire to be, the more incongruity one feels. This incongruity is usually experienced negatively. For instance, if a person who identifies as being a good student finds out they're failing their classes they will have the discrepancy between their ideal and actual self highlighted.

Alfred Adler was the one to coin the term inferiority complex. The beginnings of an inferiority complex begin very young, when a child naturally feels inferior to the competent adults that surround it. Those who have successfully met challenges before them will grow up with high self-esteem and self-worth. Those who have routinely failed or not gotten the recognition for the achievements they did make will often grow up with low self-esteem or an inferiority complex. This means they are prone to devalue themselves and may seek to overcompensate through asocial behavior or trying to obtain the recognition they did not receive as a child. 

Our most base needs are for physiological well-being (food, nourishment) and safety (shelter). Beyond that, we have a need for love and esteem which we mostly satisfy from either work or our personal relationships with partners, friends, and family. The highest need we have has more to do with our purpose in life or our "highest selves"--our most moral, creative, responsible, and authentic selves. This is the need to self-actualize and it is the most difficult of all needs to attain.

A person who has an "internal locus of control" believes, in a sense, that they are the masters of their own destiny. They are less likely to be passive as a result. People with an internal locus of control, for example, are perhaps more likely to work hard since they believe their own actions will determine consequences.

Humanistic psychology serves as a counterpoint to determinism, which views people's personality and behavior as largely determined by their past experiences. Humanistic psychology takes the emphasis off of what people cannot change and what they can. Instead of focusing on what is inhibiting the person, they focus on free will, the ability to exercise agency in one's life. A person may suffer severely from a trauma, but choose how to act in light of it.

According to Mary K. Rothbart's three dimensions of temperament, children with lower levels of surgency/extraversion may develop internalizing problems. Internalizing problems are characterized by self-infliction and introversion, such as low self-esteem, social anxiety, and shyness. These problems can also give way to depression or other mood disorders. People with high surgency/extraversion will more likely be sensation-seeking, active, and happy. 

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.

A person with an external locus of control will feel that what happens to them in life is due to external causes. They might find themselves blaming many external factors for what happens to them or where they are in life: politics, economy, their family, friends, partners, etc. As a result, they may be much more passive in life and not take responsibility for the consequences of their own actions. However, they are less likely to be judgmental of other people's lives and suffer from the "just-world bias", the belief that people get what they deserve in life. 

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.

Carl Rogers identifies the following as the five characteristics of a fully functioning person: openness to experience, existential living, trust feelings, creativity, and a fulfilled life. For the fully functioning person, personal insecurities are worked through as they appear. Stability is not as important as being a person who can handle inevitable problems and a functioning person is open to new things in life, as opposed to being closed off and judgmental. 

Existential living is when one lives in the present and is not constantly looking at the past or towards the future. That is, they are focused how they are experiencing life in the here and now, as opposed to how they did or think they will experience it.