About & Sources

An honest instrument, openly built.

Personality Evaluation is a free, independent project. We don’t sell your results, we don’t gate them behind a paywall, and we try to stay one step more cautious than the rest of the personality-test internet.

What this site is

A free Big Five evaluation built on the public-domain IPIP-NEO, designed to give you genuinely useful, honestly-bounded feedback: dimensional percentiles with confidence bands, facet-level detail, and a clear account of what the science can and can’t tell you.

Who builds it

An independent editorial team – not a single named psychologist, and we won’t pretend otherwise. Our content is compiled directly from primary psychometric literature and the public IPIP materials, every claim is tied to a named source, and pages carry a “last reviewed” date. For an individual clinical question, see a qualified professional; this site is for understanding, not assessment of any condition. Corrections welcome: hello@personalityevaluation.com.

How we read the evidence

  • Dimensions over types. We never assign a categorical type as a result.
  • Weight by evidence. The Big Five / IPIP-NEO line carries the most weight; MBTI, Enneagram, DISC, and Color Code are treated as engagement lenses, not measurement.
  • Show the uncertainty. Confidence bands, disclosed norms, conservative reliabilities.
  • No selling, no dark patterns. Your full report is free; your data is anonymous.

Sources & licensing

  • Items: International Personality Item Pool (Goldberg, L. R., et al.), public domain – ipip.ori.org.
  • Inventory & norms: Johnson, J. A. (2014), IPIP-NEO-120, Journal of Research in Personality.
  • Framework & validity: Roberts et al. (2007); Goldberg (1990); Ashton & Lee (2007); AERA/APA/NCME (2014).
Dig in

How it’s scored · The science · Ethics & limits · Privacy

Key literature

  1. Johnson, J. A. (2014). IPIP-NEO-120. Journal of Research in Personality, 51, 78–89.
  2. Goldberg, L. R., et al. (2006). The International Personality Item Pool. JRP, 40, 84–96.
  3. Roberts, B. W., et al. (2007). The power of personality. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2(4), 313–345.
  4. AERA, APA, & NCME (2014). Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing.

This is a tool for self-understanding, not a clinical, diagnostic, hiring, or other high-stakes instrument. It does not diagnose any condition. Results describe where you fall relative to a reference sample – they are estimates with error, not verdicts. See our ethics & limits.