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

Canonical page: https://data.verasight.io/culture/many-americans-feel-a-gap-between-who-they-are-and-who-they-want-to-be/

> Indexed question in Culture.

## 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

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

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

Net findings combine adjacent response options from the same scale.

- 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%

## Methodology

- Mode: Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
- Population: US adults age 18+
- Field dates: 2025-12-03 → 2025-12-08
- Base (unweighted): 1,000
- Margin of error: +/- 3.2%
- Module: soc_pol
- Sponsor: Verasight
- Weight variable: weight
- Weighting targets: age, race/ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, metropolitan status

## Source

- Canonical question URL: [https://reports.verasight.io/r/verasight-human-v-synthetic#perception-of-personal-identity-gap](https://reports.verasight.io/r/verasight-human-v-synthetic#perception-of-personal-identity-gap)

## Citation

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

Canonical question URL: [https://reports.verasight.io/r/verasight-human-v-synthetic#perception-of-personal-identity-gap](https://reports.verasight.io/r/verasight-human-v-synthetic#perception-of-personal-identity-gap)