The ideal self is the ideal created through the demands of society.
The ideal self is the type of person we feel that we should be.
As a result, neurotic individuals feel that they somehow do not live up to the ideal self.
The ideal self is the evaluation of what an individual would like to be.
Often, the ideal self is not aligned with the individuals' capabilities in their current situations.
Over time, the Michelangelo effect causes individuals to develop toward what they themselves consider as their "ideal selves."
Pharr states that here Ash is in fact describing his ideal self.
He made the best of this admission in suggesting that the ideal self can be realised through following religion.
According to Rogers, everyone strives to become more like an "ideal self".
The closer one is to their ideal self, the happier one will be.