A plain-language guide
IPIP-NEO, explained
The IPIP-NEO is a public-domain personality inventory that measures the Big Five and the thirty facets beneath them. This guide covers where it comes from, what each scale means and how to read a score.
Where it comes from
Goldberg’s IPIP is a public-domain collection of personality items (ipip.ori.org). Goldberg published a 300-item IPIP-NEO in 1999. Johnson published the 120-item version in 2014 in the Journal of Research in Personality (volume 51, pages 78–89).
What is the IPIP-NEO? →Five domains, thirty facets
Neuroticism is Anxiety, Anger, Depression, Self-Consciousness, Immoderation and Vulnerability. Each of the other four domains has six facets of its own.
The five domains →300 items or 120?
The 300-item version asks ten questions per facet. The 120-item version asks four.
Which version to use →Reading a score
A domain score of 70 means 70% of the maximum, not that you scored higher than 70% of people. Percentiles need a reference sample.
How to read a score →All the pages
- The 30 IPIP-NEO facets, A to Z, with the four questions behind each one.
- IPIP-NEO and NEO PI-R: what the two have in common and what separates them.
- Questions and answers about cost, length, validity and use.