<p>There is a very short 10 item questionaire. The BFI-10 (see <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2006.02.001" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rammstedt &amp; John, 2007</a>). I have never used it on my own, but i just read through it quickly. Although it seems fairly acceptable. So, if you want to use it, you should definitely read the article carefully.</p>

<p>Regarding your question: I would answer a careful 'yes'. In some cases it is possible to achieve a very basic degree of accuracy with just using a few items. However, this highly depends on the way the test is constructed and the kind of construct you want to investigate. The broader your construct, the more items you will need in order to account for every facet appropriately (e.g. a very broad personality aspect like 'extraversion' vs. a specific facet like 'assertiveness'). Furthermore, the longer your test, the better the reliability will tend to be (see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spearman%E2%80%93Brown_prediction_formula" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Spearman-Brown Formula</a>).</p>

<p>To sum up: It depends on the situation whether or not a short questionnaire can be basically accurate. You should always check for it´s reliability and validity.</p>

<p>Rammstedt, B., &amp; John, O. P. (2007). <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2006.02.001" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Measuring personality in one minute or less: A 10-item short version of the Big Five Inventory in English and German.</a> Journal of research in Personality, 41(1), 203-212.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-30T18:16:55.083Z
do you need further information (e.g more details)?
bucky
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-02T10:32:11.453Z
I thinks that's fine for now. I also found a 20 item Big 5 based test which seems serviceable as a basic version.
user17641
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-27T09:27:53.497Z
2017-12-27T19:11:58.637Z
2017-12-27T19:11:58.637Z
bucky
<p>If your aim is to measure the Big 5 only, then perhaps 4 or 5 items per factor will give you a rough idea. If you're planning on publishing the research, then I'd strongly encourage you get at least 8 items per factor. The IPIP website has a range of options for measuring the Big 5 with different length inventories: <a href="http://ipip.ori.org/newMultipleconstructs.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://ipip.ori.org/newMultipleconstructs.htm</a>
There are many other Big 5 instruments available including the BFI and BFI 2.</p>

<p>If you need full facet-level measurement (i.e., the 30 facets), then I'd encourage you to use the full length instrument.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-10T07:24:31.753Z
Hello, Thanks for your reply, it's been very useful.
user17641
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-09T05:47:02.887Z
2018-04-09T05:47:02.887Z
Jeromy Anglim
<p>If you want to use IPIP, better use the Mini-IPIP (20 items) instead of selecting items yourself:</p>
<p>Donnellan, M. B., Oswald, F. L., Baird, B. M., &amp; Lucas, R. E. (2006). The Mini-IPIP Scales: Tiny-yet-effective measures of the Big Five Factors of Personality. Psychological Assessment, 18(2), 192–203. <a href="https://doi.org/10/d5649w" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://doi.org/10/d5649w</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-24T07:38:33.927Z
2021-08-24T07:38:33.927Z
Johannes Titz
<p>I'm looking for a condensed form of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revised_NEO_Personality_Inventory" rel="noreferrer">NEO-PI</a> test. Current short forms come in at 40-50 questions, I'm wondering if it's possible to achieve a very basic degree of accuracy with 20 items.</p>

<personality>
Condensed NEO-PI test
user17641
# Condensed NEO-PI test

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-14)

I'm looking for a condensed form of the [NEO-PI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revised_NEO_Personality_Inventory) test. Current short forms come in at 40-50 questions, I'm wondering if it's possible to achieve a very basic degree of accuracy with 20 items.

**Tags:** personality


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-12-27. Score: 3

There is a very short 10 item questionaire. The BFI-10 (see [Rammstedt & John, 2007](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2006.02.001)). I have never used it on my own, but i just read through it quickly. Although it seems fairly acceptable. So, if you want to use it, you should definitely read the article carefully.

Regarding your question: I would answer a careful 'yes'. In some cases it is possible to achieve a very basic degree of accuracy with just using a few items. However, this highly depends on the way the test is constructed and the kind of construct you want to investigate. The broader your construct, the more items you will need in order to account for every facet appropriately (e.g. a very broad personality aspect like 'extraversion' vs. a specific facet like 'assertiveness'). Furthermore, the longer your test, the better the reliability will tend to be (see [Spearman-Brown Formula](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spearman%E2%80%93Brown_prediction_formula)).

To sum up: It depends on the situation whether or not a short questionnaire can be basically accurate. You should always check for it´s reliability and validity.

Rammstedt, B., & John, O. P. (2007). [Measuring personality in one minute or less: A 10-item short version of the Big Five Inventory in English and German.](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2006.02.001) Journal of research in Personality, 41(1), 203-212.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: do you need further information (e.g more details)?  
> **username_0**: I thinks that's fine for now. I also found a 20 item Big 5 based test which seems serviceable as a basic version.  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-04-09. Score: 2

If your aim is to measure the Big 5 only, then perhaps 4 or 5 items per factor will give you a rough idea. If you're planning on publishing the research, then I'd strongly encourage you get at least 8 items per factor. The IPIP website has a range of options for measuring the Big 5 with different length inventories: <http://ipip.ori.org/newMultipleconstructs.htm>
There are many other Big 5 instruments available including the BFI and BFI 2.

If you need full facet-level measurement (i.e., the 30 facets), then I'd encourage you to use the full length instrument.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Hello, Thanks for your reply, it's been very useful.  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2021-08-24. Score: 1

If you want to use IPIP, better use the Mini-IPIP (20 items) instead of selecting items yourself:

Donnellan, M. B., Oswald, F. L., Baird, B. M., & Lucas, R. E. (2006). The Mini-IPIP Scales: Tiny-yet-effective measures of the Big Five Factors of Personality. Psychological Assessment, 18(2), 192–203. <https://doi.org/10/d5649w>


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