The shadow self is talked about often as the side of repressed qualities we repress due to not being accepted in society, but what about our good qualities that we exaggerate to the point of dishonesty? What about societal conditioning that has made us scared to break rules or ignore societal customs? Most of us are kind to a certain point, but society will continue pushing you to be kind until you are taken advantage of by everyone else. They will also encourage you to be content until you are conditioned to accept whatever status quo they impose upon you. They will also encourage you to be generous until you have given away all of your possessions.
The solution is not to suppress your positive traits, but look into where your light self actually ends and where you were conditioned by society into behaving in certain ways to be accepted. Nobody talks about how the light self can be just as destructive as the shadow self, but people do not realize it because the light self is rewarded by society. Some people may want to be saints, but the majority of people in society are not in a position to be so kind to everyone, be so abstinent, and be so forgiving to those who wrong them.
This is not to say that you should abandon your light self and allow your shadow self to take over you. You can end up a pawn on either side. For people that have been dominated by the light self, they are excessively attached to their religious organizations and have mental barriers against any information or ideas that go against their worldview. They also tend to follow laws or rules in their society that are unjust. They probably even follow cultural norms and religious commandments that can be broken with no repercussions or inconvenience whatsoever. They perceive themselves as infallibly good but there is also a kind of fear to go against society without any critical thinking on their part of what their actions would actually result in. The person who is dominated by the light self is always accompanied by their own idealized projection of what they should be in accordance with the virtues of whatever society they belong to. Some people who are virtuous work to be this way, but the difference between choosing to be a good person and a fear to break any rules or moral codes comes from a light self that has gone out of control.
The way to test yourself for excessive shadow self is to think about how you would react to breaking a rule or law in your society that does not actually bring any harm to another person, animal or the environment. This can be related to gender, wardrobe, superstitions, or taboo in your society. If you feel a fear of doing something like this, that is the light self. However, if you do not feel fear and instead just choose not to do it for logical reasons or a lack of desire, you are balanced. Some people may fear what the opinions of others may be, but that fear indicates mental conditioning from the light self. Even if your decision comes from a place of not being disliked by others, it should come from logical decision and not fear of societal rejection.