John Mellencamp: Which trait in yourself do you like least?

The question

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

John Mellencamp

Singer and songwriter

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

My quick temper and the chaos that ensues in the hurricane that follows.

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, December 2015 source ↗

Others on this question

I talk too much.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 May 2026 source ↗

My need to be liked.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 February 2024 source ↗

I’m monstrously judgmental. It’s like talking to the pope.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 March 2026 source ↗

Self-flagellation.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 July 2025 source ↗

I need a long and lingering death to make sure that I have time to have a deathbed conversion.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 18 December 2015 source ↗

It’s not our God-given right to be happy. So, if a man can laugh out loud once or twice a day, that would be happiness.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 18 December 2015 source ↗

Ungratefulness.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, December 2015 source ↗

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