Report · Culture

Many Americans feel a gap between who they are and who they want to be

Reading

Most Americans feel a distance between their actual and their aspirational selves: 56% agree they often feel a gap between the person they are and the person they want to be, including 12% who strongly agree, according to a December 2025 Verasight survey.

About a quarter (24%) disagree, while 20% neither agree nor disagree.

Topline

response scale

Topline scale

Many Americans feel a gap between who they are and who they want to be.

I often feel there's a gap between who I am and who I want to be.

  • 5-Somewhat Agree 28.6%
  • 4-Neither Agree nor Disagree 19.9%
  • 6-Agree 15.4%
  • 7-Strongly Agree 12.1%
  • 2-Disagree 10.0%
  • 3-Somewhat Disagree 7.1%
  • 1-Strongly Disagree 6.8%

2025 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.2%

soc_pol

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Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2025-12-03 → 2025-12-08
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.2%
Module
soc_pol

Source

Citation

Verasight Human/LLM Comparison Survey #2025-172, fielded December 3-8, 2025, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.2%.

https://reports.verasight.io/r/verasight-human-v-synthetic

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.