(New parts will be in italics) For his good qualities, he's still human and not above being manipulated, or above acting on his emotions. When he was a child in fairtyale land, he was shown to have developed coping skills early on at being told his opinion on their con games didn't matter, but his limit was reached by the time he went to Rumplestiltskin for a potion to deal with the situation and to be free.
When his plan backfires due to his parents actions of swapping the potion with rain water, he's racked with guilt but choses to run instead of explain what happened. He meets the Blue Fairy and is given the option of being freed from his parents to help the boy (Gepetto) for himself. (Fairytale flashbacks in "That still small voice") This, to me, shows his ability to be self-aware of mistakes and recognize when to correct things. His wanting to help (even if born from guilt) more than likely lead his Storybrooke version to become a therapist.
In his current profession, Regina Mills has shown herself able to manipulate him into acting in contrast to what he feels is better for Henry's therapy sessions, and in the same chord, to go against his conscience. If circumstances were met, he could be manipulated to a point to tune out his conscience, though I think there would be at least one (if not several) stop gaps before it got too far. (For example, he could be convinced to tell Henry to stop believing his ideas about the fairy tale land, but I can't see him being manipulated to do something extreme like going along with an angry mob to the point of violence. (s2, "We are Both"). Once he's realized how he'd been acting, he offered Regina his help to cope with the effects of the curse being lifted. He also seems a little too trusting of people he knows, which comes back to bite him hard in s2's "The Cricket Game" at his apparent "murder".
Requested personality section revision 2 of 2
When his plan backfires due to his parents actions of swapping the potion with rain water, he's racked with guilt but choses to run instead of explain what happened. He meets the Blue Fairy and is given the option of being freed from his parents to help the boy (Gepetto) for himself. (Fairytale flashbacks in "That still small voice") This, to me, shows his ability to be self-aware of mistakes and recognize when to correct things. His wanting to help (even if born from guilt) more than likely lead his Storybrooke version to become a therapist.
In his current profession, Regina Mills has shown herself able to manipulate him into acting in contrast to what he feels is better for Henry's therapy sessions, and in the same chord, to go against his conscience. If circumstances were met, he could be manipulated to a point to tune out his conscience, though I think there would be at least one (if not several) stop gaps before it got too far. (For example, he could be convinced to tell Henry to stop believing his ideas about the fairy tale land, but I can't see him being manipulated to do something extreme like going along with an angry mob to the point of violence. (s2, "We are Both"). Once he's realized how he'd been acting, he offered Regina his help to cope with the effects of the curse being lifted. He also seems a little too trusting of people he knows, which comes back to bite him hard in s2's "The Cricket Game" at his apparent "murder".