NEO PERSONALITY INVENTORY - REVISED (NEO PI- R)
Commonly known as: “BIG FIVE”
Note: related to the big five personality test/OCEAN but not exactly the same.
Author/s: Paul Costa Jr. and Robert McCrae
Date of publication: Published by Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. in 1992
Target Population: Adults 18 years or older with at least a 6th‐grade reading level.
Description:
The NEO PI-R is a psychometric instrument that provides a detailed assessment of an
adult. It was developed to measure the five major dimensions of personality and is based on the
theory of Five-Factor Model (FFM) which is a widely accepted theory in psychology that is
often referred to as the Big Five (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to experience,
Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness). The NEO PI-R has a relevant application on
counseling, clinical, psychiatry, behavioral medicine and health psychology, IO, and educational
and personality research. This tool provides a systematic assessment of emotional,
interpersonal, experiential, attitudinal, and motivational styles of the individual. As mentioned
before, it measures the five (5) personality domains of FFM and each of these domains have six
(6) facets or subdomains.
Table 1. The Big Five
Neuroticism ● Tendency to experience of psychological distress
● Upsetability and the polar opposite of emotional stability.
Extraversion ● Quantity and intensity of energy directed outwards.
● Talkativeness, liveliness, and outgoingness versus shyness,
quietness, and passivity.
Openness ● Active seeking and appreciation of experiences.
● philosophical ability, complexity, and creativity versus
shallowness and conventionality
Agreeableness ● Interactions one prefers from compassion to tough mindedness
● Kindness and gentleness versus rudeness and harshness.
Conscientiousness ● Organized, persistent, and motivated in goal directed behavior
● Organization, discipline, and thoroughness versus sloppiness,
laziness, and unreliability.
Table 2. The five personality domains and the six facets on each domain.
Neuroticism Extraversion Agreeableness Conscientious
Openness ness
Anxiety Warmth Fantasy Trust Competence
Angry/ Hostility Gregariousness Aesthetics Straightforwardness Order
Depression Assertiveness Feelings Altruism Dutifulness
Self-Conscious Activity Actions Compliance Achievement
ness Striving
Impulsiveness Excitement Ideas Modesty Self- Discipline
Seeking
Vulnerability Positive Values Tender-Mindedness Deliberation
Emotions
Among the different versions of the NEO inventories, the NEO PI-R is the longest
inventory with 240 items that are grouped into 30 scales and is measuring narrower personality
traits. As mentioned before, there are five broad personality traits, narrowed by 6 facets and
then each of these facets have 8 items, totalling to 240 items in the test. The test is rated on a
5-point Likert-type scale which includes; strongly disagree (SD), Disagree (D), Neutral (N),
Agree (A), Strongly agree (SA). The required time for test completion is approximately 30-40
minutes. Aside from the number of items, NEO PI-R has two different forms; Form S
(Self-report) and Form R (Rater). Form S is designed for self report by the individual being
evaluated and Form R is written in third person, it is to be answered by the individual who
knows the individual being evaluated well and is used to supplement self report of the client.
Norms:
The original norm came from a large representative sample of adults from the US with
different demographic backgrounds (normative group). Subsequent research also developed
norms from other cultures and countries. Norms are different between Male and Female thus,
Gender norms for this test was created. Different Ages may also differ in personality trait, that is
why an age norm is present as well specifically age groups (young adults, middle adults, and
older adults)
Test Sample: None Available. Specific items of the inventory are copyrighted by Psychological
Assessment Resources (PAR).
Administration of Test:
The test is administered toward adults aging 18 years old and above with at least grade
six (6) reading level. It can be done in paper-pencil format or computerized. During the
administration of the test, the required time for the completion is approximately 30-40 minutes.
The administrator of the test should and can only be a registered psychologist. It is
expected that the administrator has adequate knowledge in conducting psychological
assessment in general, in other words, training is required.
Before the conduction;
● The test should be administered in a cozy and quiet environment without external
distraction. The administrator should begin with building rapport and gaining the full
cooperation of the examinee.
● The examiner should explain the nature and purpose of the experiment.
● The examiner then asks the examinee whether she has questions and concerns
regarding the test or the evaluation process.
Scoring:
● Scoring will not proceed if there are more than 40 unanswered questions.
● Individual facets will not be scored if more than 3 items are unanswered.
● Scoring is automatic if inputted in the computer and it is recommended to run it twice.
● The answer sheet is a carbonless answer sheet for self scoring; however, before
removing the top page, the examiner clears up the answer sheet by marking up the
unanswered items.
● In case of answer changes, the examinee should clearly mark their actual response to
ensure that it will be counted.
● The second page of the answer sheet displays values associated with SD, D, N, A, or
SA in rows and each row corresponds to one of the facet scales for each domain. The
sum of the values associated with the marked responses yields the raw score for
each facet scale and the sum of the raw scores of the six facets within a domain
yields the raw score for that domain.
● The values assigned to SD, D, N, A, or SA are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 when the item
is keyed in the reversed direction. There are eight items for each of the facet scales and
therefore, the raw score range for each facet scale is 0–32 and the raw score range for
a domain is 0–192.
Interpretation:
● General guideline for all personality inventory is to never rely only on scores but the
other information should be accounted for as well such as, protocol validity, reasons and
purpose of assessment, motivation of the examinee, observed emotional state and
behavior during the assessment.
○ The NEO PI-R lacks the validity scale to detect faking-good or faking-bad
tendencies, thus, it is extremely important to take the mentioned other
information.
○ Response distortion most likely occurs in settings involving settings such as
clinical, forensic, personal evaluations where they may present themselves
favorably or pathologically.
● It is important to keep in mind when interpreting that this test is developed to provide
information on basic and general personality domains, in other words it is not to measure
psychopathology and careful inferences should be made.
○ Example: High in neuroticism does not mean an individual has mental
illness/psychopathology: rather, it may need to be viewed as a general
dissatisfaction of life or a proneness to negative life affect
● High scores on some domains can suggest favorable and healthy psychological
well-being, but low scores on these domains does not suggest inadequacy or negativity.
High or low scores on these domains should not be interpreted in a naïve manner as
being positive or negative traits.
○ Example: Low score on Extraversion should be viewed as an absence of
extroversion traits rather than the opposite of extraversion that suggests a deficit
or psychopathology. People with low scores on Extraversion should be
considered reserved but not unfriendly. They may prefer to be alone but this does
not mean they experience social anxiety.
● Interpretation should begin with the five broad personality traits followed by the scores
on each specific facet.
● Then T-score is used to facilitate the interpretation on both the domain and facet with the
constant standard deviation of 10.
T- Score Interpretation
Above 65 Very high
55 High
45-55 Average
Below 45 Low
Below 34 Very low
● The manual of NEO‐PI‐R provides descriptions of the personality traits for the domains
and facets at these low and high levels. The raw scores can be plotted and transformed
to T scores on normed profile sheets, which can then be interpreted in reference to
NEO‐PI‐R manual as well as literature about the NEO‐PI‐R.
Computer interpretation
● Using the NEO Software System, computers can be used for interpretation and should
be run twice. The report should show;
○ A T‐score profile displaying the examinee’s standing on the five factors and 30
facet scales
○ A table summarizing the raw scores and T scores in ranges of average, low, high,
very low, or very high
○ Provides a global description of the five domains
○ Detailed interpretation of the facets of these domains
○ Provides possible implications of the examinee’s personality profile for their
functions in coping and defense, somatic complaints, psychological well‐being,
cognitive processes, interpersonal characteristics, and needs and motives
○ Proposes clinical hypotheses regarding personality disorders and treatment
implications based on the similarity of the examinee’s profile to the prototypic
profile of NEO ‐PI‐R facets.
■ Characterized by facets consistent with criteria of a personality disorder
formulated by DSM-IV. However, this section should be interpreted in
reference to other clinical information and evidence.
● Occasionally, inconsistent interpretative statements can be made between the domain
and the facet. In this case, the focus should be on the facet and their interpretation.
● This report is only one source of information and should be integrated with other sources
and this report should only be available to the interpreter.
Reliability:
Internal consistency of both Form R and Form S using the Test-Retest reliability test
scaled 0.86-0.95 for domain personality traits and 0.56-0.90 for facet traits.
● Test‐retest reliability coefficients have been reported with different intervals.
- Six‐year interval: 0.83 for Neuroticism, 0.82 for Extraversion, 0.83 for
Openness, 0.63 for Agreeableness, and 0.79 for Conscientiousness.
- 10‐year interval: 0.78– 0.85 for the five domains and 0.57– 0.82 for facets
scales. A
- one‐week interval: 0.91–0.93 for the domains and 0.70–0.91 for facets
scales
● Cronbach's alpha (a measure of internal consistency): 0.86 to 0.92, for the domains
and 0.56 to 0.81,
Validity:
● Consensual validity of NEO‐PI‐R
- The test has been supported by the strong correlation between self‐report scores
obtained through Form S and scores based on acquaintance’s ratings using
Form R.
● Construct Validity:
- The NEO PI-R was assessed on how well it measured its theoretical construct
(the Big Five traits). It was found that the test has a strong construct validity as
demonstrated by its alignment with the Five-Factor Model (FFM), which is backed
by extensive research in psychology. Factor analysis consistently supports the
existence of the five major domains (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness,
Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness), and the facets within each domain also
show coherent groupings.
● Convergent Validity:
- NEO PI-R was assessed on how well it correlates with other established tests
that measure similar constructs. High correlations with similar measures were
found and it suggests that the test is valid.
- It was found to correlate well with other Big Five personality tests, such as the
Big Five Inventory (BFI) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
- Research cited in the manual shows correlations of 0.60 to 0.75 between the
NEO PI-R and other Big Five measures, which indicates strong convergent
validity.
● d. Criterion Validity:
- NEO PI-R was evaluated on how well the scores predicted relevant real-world
outcomes, such as job performance, relationship satisfaction, or mental health
outcomes. It was found that it has strong criterion validity. For example,
Conscientiousness is consistently shown to be a strong predictor of job
performance and academic success, while Neuroticism is associated with mental
health outcomes like stress and anxiety. Extraversion predicts social and
leadership behaviors, and Agreeableness is linked to relationship quality and
prosocial behavior.
Utility:
This tool is significantly associated with professional knowledge and background. With
this, it has great utility in the crucial first phase of beginning to understand a client. Because it
assesses both broad factors and specific facets, as well as the patterns and combinations of
facets that can be interpreted by the experienced clinician, in other words, it provides a wealth
of data. It can also help in Treatment planning. Several studies have shown that the NEO
invento-ries can be helpful in anticipating the course of therapy and predicting outcomes. Not
just in planning but also in treatment progress evaluation . In nonclinical samples, the traits
assessed by the NEO inventories are highly stable over time