NEO-PI-R • NEO Personality Inventory - Revised

P.T. (Jr.) Costa, R.R. McCrae

Hogrefe Ltd. The Test People, Oxford

Overview
The Test

The NEO PI-R is a measure of the five major domains of personality as well as the six facets
that define each domain. Taken together, the five domain scales and thirty facet scales of
the NEO PI-R facilitate a comprehensive and detailed assessment of normal adult
personality. The NEO PI-R is recognized internationally as a gold standard for personality
assessment. Today, reputable developers of personality tests for the occupational market
will as a matter of course publish data on the relationship of their tests with the five factor
model using one form or another of the NEO as the benchmark. The total amount of recent
data from high level academic journals concerning the NEO PI-R underpins its quality.

Description of the domain and facet scales

Neuroticism: identifies individuals who are prone to psychological distress

Anxiety: level of free floating anxiety

Angry Hostility: tendency to experience anger and related states such as frustration and
bitterness

Depression: tendency to experience feelings of guilt, sadness, despondency and loneliness

Self Consciousness: shyness or social anxiety

Impulsiveness: tendency to act on cravings and urges rather than reining them in and
delaying gratification

Vulnerability: general susceptibility to stress

Extraversion: quantity and intensity of energy directed outwards into the social world

Warmth: interest in and friendliness towards others

Gregariousness: preference for the company of others

Assertiveness: social ascendancy and forcefulness of expression

Activity: pace of living

Excitement seeking: need for environmental stimulation

Positive Emotion: tendency to experience positive emotions

Openness to Experience: the active seeking and appreciation of experiences for their own
sake

Fantasy: receptivity to the inner world of imagination

Aesthetics: appreciation of art and beauty

Feelings: openness to inner feelings and emotions

Actions: openness to new experiences on a practical level

Ideas: intellectual curiosity

Values: readiness to re-examine own values and those of authority figures

Agreeableness: the kinds of interactions an individual prefers from compassion to tough

mindedness

Trust: belief in the sincerity and good intentions of others

Straightforwardness: frankness in expression

Altruism: active concern for the welfare of others

Compliance: response to interpersonal conflict

Modesty: tendency to play down own achievements and be humble.

Tender mindedness: attitude of sympathy for others.

Conscientiousness: degree of organization, persistence, control and motivation in goal

directed behaviour

Competence: belief in own self efficacy

Order: personal organization

Dutifulness: emphasis placed on importance of fulfilling moral obligations

Achievement striving: need for personal achievement and sense of direction

Self Discipline: capacity to begin tasks and follow through to completion despite boredom
or distractions.

Deliberation: tendency to think things through before acting or speaking.

 
 Population-based norms; associated with items

Population-based norms; calculated

Derived/calculated score

(x) Dealing with missing values:

(0) ignore them
(1) use regression to estimate an answer
(2) use the middle scale point as answer
(3) use a defined score as answer
Characteristics Standard
N1 Anxiety (1)
N2 Angry-Hostility (1)
N3 Depression (1)
N4 Self-Consciousness (1)
N5 Impulsiveness (1)
N6 Vulnerability (1)
E1 Warmth (1)
E2 Gregariousness (1)
E3 Assertiveness (1)
E4 Activity (1)
E5 Excitement-Seeking (1)
E6 Positive Emotions (1)
O1 Openness to Fantasy (1)
O2 Openness to Aesthetics (1)
O3 Openness to Feelings (1)
O4 Openness to Actions (1)
O5 Openness to Ideas (1)
O6 Openness to Values (1)
A1 Trust (1)
A2 Straightforwardness (1)
A3 Altruism (1)
A4 Compliance (1)
A5 Modesty (1)
A6 Tender-Mindedness (1)
C1 Competence (1)
C2 Order (1)
C3 Dutifulness (1)
C4 Achievement Striving (1)
C5 Self-Discipline (1)
C6 Deliberation (1)
N Neuroticism
     
E Extraversion
     
O Openness to Experience
     
A Agreeableness
     
C Conscientiousness
     

Area of application

The NEO PI-R has applications in occupational assessment for selection and development,
vocational guidance, counselling and research.

Norms
Norm Standard
UK Working Population (broad Age groups Neither gender- nor medium-specific
sample)
up to 80 yrs. N = 759
Job Applicants (UK) Age groups Neither gender- nor medium-specific
up to 80 yrs. N = 542
Total Sample Age groups Neither gender- nor medium-specific
up to 80 yrs. N = 1301
Total Sample, sex-specific Age groups Women Men
Input method not Input method not
specific specific
up to 80 yrs. N = 353 N = 797
Financial Services Organisation Age groups Neither gender- nor medium-specific
up to 80 yrs. N = 561

Total sample, sex-specific

In addition to the norms described in the professional manual sex-specific norms were
developed based on the 'Total sample'.

Sample description

  N Age (in years)

    Min. Max. Mean Standard dev.
Male (m) 797 22 67 43.9 8.3
Female (f) 353 18 68 40.8 9.4

Distribution of test values

  Minimum Maximum Mean Standard dev.

  m f m f m f m f
Facets
N1 Anxiety 0 1 29 27 12.2 13.5 4.6 4.7
N2 Angry-Hostility 0 0 28 21 9.4 9.9 4.5 4.1
N3 Depression 0 1 30 28 9.4 10.2 5.2 4.9
N4 Self-Consciousness 0 1 28 24 11.2 11.8 4.3 4.5
N5 Impulsiveness 0 1 29 28 13.9 14.6 4.5 4.6
N6 Vulnerability 0 0 21 20 6.3 7.2 3.6 3.8
E1 Warmth 8 13 32 32 23.4 25.0 3.9 3.4
E2 Gregariousness 2 4 31 30 19.6 19.7 4.6 4.4
E3 Assertiveness 5 5 32 31 21.0 20.5 4.4 4.5
E4 Activity 6 9 32 31 21.6 21.9 4.1 4.0
E5 Excitement-Seeking 5 4 31 30 17.8 16.5 4.6 4.7
E6 Positive Emotions 4 6 32 32 21.9 23.2 4.7 4.4
O1 Openness to Fantasy 1 4 30 32 17.2 17.8 4.7 4.7
O2 Openness to Aesthetics 1 5 31 32 18.7 20.3 5.9 5.3
O3 Openness to Feelings 9 2 32 32 21.4 22.9 4.2 3.9
O4 Openness to Actions 8 8 31 32 20.1 21.2 4.2 3.8
O5 Openness to Ideas 1 6 32 32 21.7 21.5 5.0 4.8
O6 Openness to Values 8 9 32 31 23.9 24.1 3.6 3.1
A1 Trust 1 5 32 32 22.6 22.8 4.1 4.1
A2 Straightforwardness 3 9 31 32 19.5 20.2 4.5 4.2
A3 Altruism 12 12 32 32 23.7 25.0 3.4 3.2
A4 Compliance 5 6 30 32 18.9 19.6 4.1 3.9
A5 Modesty 5 7 32 30 18.1 18.6 4.4 4.1
A6 Tender-Mindedness 6 2 31 30 19.6 20.5 3.5 3.5
C1 Competence 11 13 32 32 24.4 24.2 3.5 3.5
C2 Order 5 5 31 30 18.4 19.1 4.4 4.5
C3 Dutifulness 9 15 32 32 25.0 24.7 3.6 3.8
C4 Achievement Striving 7 11 32 31 23.1 23.1 4.0 4.1
C5 Self-Discipline 7 8 32 32 23.6 23.9 4.3 4.3
C6 Deliberation 3 3 32 32 19.0 18.5 4.5 4.4
Domains
N Neuroticism 16 16 141 137 62.3 67.2 20.1 20.3
E Extraversion 70 75 179 168 125.3 126.8 18.3 17.4
O Openness to Experience 54 81 175 174 123.0 127.8 18.8 16.3
A Agreeableness 56 84 173 175 122.3 126.8 15.7 14.6
C Conscientiousness 60 76 176 176 133.4 133.5 18.2 18.4

Psychometric properties
The psychometric properties reported below relate to the UK adaptation of the NEO PI-R.

Reliability

Item analysis, (Cronbach’s Alpha) and factor analysis were carried out on a sample of 609
respondents in the UK Anglicization study. The UK results show close alignment with those
from the US. The domain scales show internal reliabilities which range from .87 to .92.
Facet scales show internal reliabilities ranging from .58 to .82.

Test retest reliabilities are all above .75

Validity
Validity data is extensive; for a full account the reader is referred to the Professional
manual, (US edition) and reference lists are available from the publishers. 

Duration
Test form Duration, ca. No. of items
Standard 35.00 min 243
Durations are absolute, from start to end of the test process (incl. instruction phase etc).

References
For a full list of references please consult the US and UK professional manuals or the
following guide.

Lord, Wendy. NEO-PI-R - A Guide to Interpretation and Feedback in a Work

Context. (Hogrefe Ltd, 2007).