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Do you think you are a good person? Why/why not?

Was recently having this discussion with a friend and wanted to hear other peoples thoughts. Until recently I used to consider myself a good person but I never really had a reason why. I have come to the conclusion that I'm not sure what I think anymore; am I good person who does bad things or am I a bad person who occasionally does good things? Undecided.

What do you think of yourself; are you a good person, bad person or somewhere in the middle? What are the qualities that you deem to make a person either end of the spectrum? Are we born one or the other?

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Reply 1
Original post by Anonymous
Was recently having this discussion with a friend and wanted to hear other peoples thoughts. Until recently I used to consider myself a good person but I never really had a reason why. I have come to the conclusion that I'm not sure what I think anymore; am I good person who does bad things or am I a bad person who occasionally does good things? Undecided.

What do you think of yourself; are you a good person, bad person or somewhere in the middle? What are the qualities that you deem to make a person either end of the spectrum? Are we born one or the other?


I hope I'm a good person. I always try my best to help others as much as I can and never want anybody to think that I am nasty or anything
Reply 2
Original post by Bham369
I hope I'm a good person. I always try my best to help others as much as I can and never want anybody to think that I am nasty or anything

Have you ever done anything in your life (you obviously don't have to say what if yes) thats made you question your goodness?
Reply 3
Original post by Anonymous
Have you ever done anything in your life (you obviously don't have to say what if yes) thats made you question your goodness?


NGL I have had thoughts that I'm not proud of, and I have acted on instinct once or twice and done stuff I shouldn't have but I like to think I am able to admit when I am wrong and say sorry/make it right. I always try to :smile:
Reply 4
I think everyone is born a good person. And deep down even the worst people have a good side, it’s just some people choose not to emarce it.

I think I’m a good person because I get pleasure from being kind, caring, listening, putting other people first and just want to make the best of everything and see the best in everyone. Everyone does bad things and has bad thoughts, but even when I hate someone I do my best not to act on it, it’s not about what you feel, it’s about how you act on it
That's for others to judge. Personally, I don't care either way. Is it really that important?
Reply 6
I don't think I am the nicest person ever but I know I am not evil. I have my bad moments and traits like everyone else and because of some stuff I have said or done in the past, some people may view me as a bad person but I am happy with who I am, for the most part. I know I am a good person when it comes to my pets and other animals - I never doubt my empathy with them.
Reply 7
Original post by I for Inimitable
That's for others to judge. Personally, I don't care either way. Is it really that important?


I asked because whether or not it's important I wanted to know how other people viewed themselves
I don't feel I am a good person, because I always fall short of who I want to be as a person. I used to try a lot harder to be a better person (by which I mean, being an attentive and helpful friend, daughter, and sibling) but over the years I feel I've lost drive due to laziness primarily, but also illness. I've lost motivation along the way and become more self-engrossed and self-centred :s-smilie:

People tell me I'm a really good friend but I feel like I let people down a lot :s-smilie: So I dunno. I find it hard to see myself the way others see me :dontknow:
Reply 9
In some ways yes and in some ways no. I'll try and help anyone out provided they don't take the piss (and even then sometimes I still will) but once crossed I can be a right vindictive ****.

I'm very self-critical like so it's probably always gonna be a losing battle for me.
(edited 6 years ago)
i dont think im a good person :s-smilie:
I try to be a good person and I’m naturally like that but i have said some horrible things to people who really didn’t deserve it. And I deeply regret it and now I know to never say it.
No but I don't actually care if people think I am bad
Reply 13
No. I am generally empathetic and not malicious, but I do very little for anybody. Even myself. My general laziness and avoidance has led, rightly, to a total lack of meaningful friendships, and I have, so far, contributed absolutely nothing to society, while being quite happy to take from it. One might say that this is normal for a student, that the payback comes later, but I am making no great effort to make myself useful once my degree is over.
(edited 6 years ago)
Yes. Only because I realised what an inherently rubbish person I was and actively worked against that. Which is a result of having absolute anti-role models as parents. I don't think I'm anything special, but it has been a long time since I've done or said anything bad to anyone. In fairness I don't socialise much though.
I try to be good. I don't think I'm as good as I should be. The reason for that is because when bad things happen or if I haven't achieved what I hope for, then I believe it must be my fault and I probably deserve it. I then try to think of the bad things I've done and if that was the cause. Basically, good people will be successful in their careers and attract good things, good partners Etc and will be happy. Besides having good friends, I haven't come close to the rest. So I must be doing something wrong. Or being a bad person.
bit of both.
I think being a good person or not is about your actions, not your thoughts. There's a lot of terrible stuff going on in the world; if your brain processes that by giving you terrible thoughts that you're shocked by or feel bad about, I don't think those thoughts make you a bad person.

I do believe we should try to think well of others and stay away from horrible thoughts because our thoughts do influence our actions and it would be silly to claim otherwise. When I find myself thinking cruel thoughts about someone, I try to take a step back, see where those thoughts are coming from and how they're going to influence my behaviour.

I haven't always treated others kindly (childhood trauma recovery is a wild ride, kids) but I do my utmost now to try and be a positive influence in the world. I'm a mentor for young people with learning difficulties, I give to our food bank once a week, I try to help if anyone I know is having problems, etc. It feels very presumptuous to say I'm a good person, but I try to be a kind person and hope that good things come from that.
I think that people are born in the middle, and then society teaches them to do what we would consider 'right' or 'wrong'. The thing is that most people who do 'bad' things consider them to be good for their purposes or think that they're good, so it can be hard to measure. Everything is quite relevant.

If you do good things because you don't want to be seen as a bad person, then that maybe needs examining. Most people who do 'good' things for non selfish reasons usually don't think about what they're doing as 'good', so probably don't consider themselves particularly good people.

For me, the measure of whether someone is good or bad is best taken from other people. If you do good things because your conscience tells you to, you're probably a good person. If you're wondering whether or not you're a good person because of your image, that might be a problem. If you're wondering whether or not you're a good person because you feel like you don't do enough good, you're probably a good person.

And if you care enough to worry about it all, then... You're probably a good person. ☺️

An excellent question, I enjoyed thinking about it.
I am really confused as well, don't know if I am a good person or not but people say I am so I believe them

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