Frequently asked questions about the Big Five test

About the test

What is the Big Five personality test?

The Big Five test measures your personality along the five broad dimensions used in modern psychology: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. You answer 120 short statements about yourself and get a report with five main domains and 30 underlying facets.

Is the Big Five test scientific?

Yes. The five-factor model is the most researched and best documented personality model there is, and the questions in this test come from the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), used in research worldwide. The IPIP-NEO-120 test was developed by Professor John A. Johnson and published in a peer-reviewed journal. Read more on About the test.

Is the test really free?

Yes. The test, the result, the comparison and all articles are free, with no registration and no hidden costs. The service is funded by advertising.

How long does the test take?

About 10 minutes. Most people spend between 7 and 15 minutes on the 120 statements. Your answers are saved in your browser as you go, so you can take a break and continue later.

Do I need to register or give my email?

No. You need no account, and we never ask for your name or email. You get your result as a link, and that link is your only way back to the report.

Where do the questions come from?

From the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), an open research library run by the Oregon Research Institute, assembled into the IPIP-NEO-120 test by Professor John A. Johnson at Penn State. The questions are in the public domain. See ipip.ori.org.

How many people have taken the test?

More than 8 million people have taken the Big Five test on bigfive-test.com, in more than 40 languages.

What is the difference between the Big Five and MBTI or 16 personalities?

MBTI and similar tests sort people into fixed types, such as INTJ or ENFP. Research shows these types are unstable: many people get a different type when they retake the test. The Big Five instead describes where you sit on five scales, and it is the model researchers actually use. There are no "types" in the Big Five, only a pattern that is yours.

How does the Big Five differ from DISC and the Enneagram?

DISC and the Enneagram are popular in workplaces and self-development, but have weak research support compared with the Big Five. The five-factor model was developed through decades of studies across cultures and languages, and is the standard in personality psychology.

Is this Jordan Peterson's personality test?

No. Jordan Peterson's test, Understand Myself, is a commercial test that is also based on the Big Five. The test here uses the open IPIP-NEO-120 instrument and is free. Both measure the same five traits.

Is this the same as the OCEAN or CANOE test?

Yes. OCEAN and CANOE are just acronyms for the five traits: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. They all refer to the Big Five.

The other tests

What other tests can I take?

Besides the Big Five, there are tests in four areas. Personality: for example HEXACO, the Big Five Aspects Scales, 16 personality factors and the Dark Tetrad. Abilities: logical reasoning and emotional intelligence. Strengths, career and well-being: character strengths, career interests and self-esteem. Health: ADHD, anxiety, autism and burnout. You find all of them on Tests.

Where do the other tests come from?

They are all published research instruments, most of them from the same open International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) as the Big Five test. Each test page names the instrument and the scientific article behind it. The only exception is "Five good habits", a checklist we wrote ourselves based on research on everyday habits.

Are the other tests free too?

Yes. Every test is free and needs no registration, and you get your result as a link, just like with the Big Five test.

Which test should I start with?

If you have not taken a test here before, start with the Big Five test. It gives the broadest picture of your personality, and you can compare it with others. Short on time? The quick personality test takes about 3 minutes. After each test we suggest which test fits well as the next one.

What is the difference between the Big Five and HEXACO?

HEXACO adds a sixth dimension, honesty-humility: sincerity, fairness, modesty and how little you care about status and wealth. The other five resemble the Big Five, but emotionality and agreeableness are divided somewhat differently. The HEXACO test has 240 statements and takes about 25 minutes.

Can the ADHD, anxiety, autism or burnout test give me a diagnosis?

No. These are screening tools, used in research and health care to show whether it may be worth looking more closely. Only a doctor or psychologist can make a diagnosis. If the result worries you or you are struggling, talk to your doctor. The health tests have extra privacy protection: we ask for your explicit consent before storing the answers, the pages have no ads, and nothing from these tests is sent to Google Analytics.

Is the logical reasoning test an IQ test?

No. The logical reasoning test (SAFRAN) measures reasoning with verbal, figural and numerical tasks in 15 minutes, but it gives no IQ score. There are no population norms for it yet, so we show how many tasks you solved in each part.

Can I compare results from the other tests?

Comparison works for the Big Five test, in both the standard and the long version, and for HEXACO. Results from different tests cannot be compared with each other, because they measure different things.

Your result

What do the percentages in the result mean?

The percentage shows how far up the scale you sit on each trait. 0% means you answered "very inaccurate" to everything, 100% that you answered "very accurate" to everything. Below each trait you also see a percentile: the share of a comparison group that scored lower than you. You choose the group yourself (everyone, women or men, and an age group). The percentiles come from more than 400,000 people who took the same test online, mostly in English (Johnson, 2014). They are a guide, not official norms.

What do high, average and low mean?

We take the average of your answers per trait. Below 2.5 out of 5 counts as low, above 3.5 as high, and everything in between as average. The texts in the report follow these levels. None of the levels is better than the others.

What is a facet?

Each of the five traits is made up of six more specific aspects, called facets. Openness, for example, has the facets imagination, artistic interests, emotionality, adventurousness, intellect and liberalism. Facets give a more nuanced picture than the five main numbers alone.

What is a good Big Five score?

There is no good or bad score. Each trait has advantages in some situations and drawbacks in others. High conscientiousness helps when you need to meet deadlines, low conscientiousness makes it easier to improvise. The report describes tendencies, not grades.

What does it mean to score high on neuroticism?

Neuroticism is about how strongly and how often you experience negative emotions such as worry, irritation and stress. A high score means you react more strongly to adversity, not that something is wrong with you. Many people high in neuroticism are conscientious and alert to risk.

What does it mean to score low on extraversion?

A low score on extraversion means you draw energy from calm and from fewer, deeper relationships, rather than from lots of social stimulation. This is what is often called introversion. It says nothing about shyness or social skills.

Can personality change?

Yes, but slowly. Research shows most people become somewhat more conscientious, agreeable and emotionally stable with age. Major life events can also shift the scores. If you retake the test in a few years, it is normal to see changes.

Why do I get a different result when I retake the test?

The result is a self-report and is affected by mood, energy and how honestly you answer. Small differences are completely normal. Large jumps usually come from answering the neutral options differently, or from thinking about yourself in a different role, for example at work versus at home.

Is the result a diagnosis?

No. The Big Five describes normal variation in personality among healthy people. The test cannot diagnose anything, and a high or low score on a trait is not a disorder.

How accurate is the result?

The instrument is documented in peer-reviewed studies and has good reliability. The accuracy for you depends on how honestly and attentively you answer. Answer as you actually are, not as you would like to be, and think of yourself in general, not in one specific situation.

Can I retake the test?

Yes, as many times as you like. Every result gets its own link, so you can compare results from different points in time with each other.

Sharing, comparing and PDF

How do I share my result?

On the result page you find "Share your result" with buttons to copy the link, send it by email and share on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and LinkedIn. Anyone with the link can see the result, so share it only with people you want to see it.

How do I compare myself with my partner, friends or colleagues?

Both of you need to have taken the test. Click "Compare with someone you know" on the result page, enter the name and link of the other person, and click "Compare". You see both profiles trait by trait, where you are most alike and most different, and a similarity percentage. See an example here.

Can we compare a whole team?

Yes. You can compare up to 50 people at once, which works well for teams, classes, families and groups of friends. With up to ten people, everyone gets their own colour and bars. With more, the comparison becomes a team table: one row per person and one column per trait, which you can sort by any trait to see who scores highest. See examples of a team and a large group.

How do I download my result as a PDF?

Click "Download as PDF" on the result page. It opens your browser's print dialog, where you choose "Save as PDF". The report has its own clean print version.

I lost the link to my result

There is no account, so the link is the only way back. If you took the test in the same browser, you will find it under Results. Otherwise, look in messages you have sent, or take the test again.

Privacy

What information do you store about me?

Your answers, the language and the time, tied to a random id. No name, email or IP address. Everything is in the privacy policy.

Can I delete my result?

Yes. At the bottom of the result page you find "Delete my result". It works in the browser the test was taken in. If you need help, email us the link to the result and we will delete it.

Can other people see my result?

Only those who have the link. The result is not searchable and not tied to your name. If you share the link, the recipient can pass it on, so share it with care.

Use at work and in education

Can employers use the Big Five in hiring?

The Big Five is the personality model with the best documented link to job performance, especially conscientiousness. This test is made for personal insight and is not certified as a recruitment tool. Feel free to use it as a conversation starter in a team, but not as a basis for rejecting candidates.

Can I use the test in teaching or research?

Yes. The IPIP questions are in the public domain, and the code is open source. If you are collecting data for research, we recommend taking the questions from IPIP directly, so you have full control of the data collection.

Can children and teenagers take the test?

The test is made for adults and is not directed at children under 13. Teenagers can take it, but the results are less stable, since personality is still developing.

Languages, code and contributing

Which languages is the test available in?

The test is available in more than 40 languages. Some translations are made by volunteers, others partly with machine translation. You switch language at the top of the page.

I want to translate the test into my language

Wonderful! All texts are simple files in the codebase: one set for the interface, one for the questions and one for the result texts. Copy the English file, translate the values, and send us the files by email or as a pull request on GitHub. We are happy to help with the technical part.

I found an error in a translation

Email us which text it is and what it should say. We appreciate corrections.

Can I use the code or the questions myself?

Yes. The code is open source under the MIT licence, and the IPIP questions are in the public domain. You find everything on GitHub.

I got an error message

Email us, or open an issue on GitHub. Please include which page it happened on and which browser you use.

How do I contact you?

Send an email to bigfive-test@rubynor.com. The source code is on GitHub.