NEO-Five Factor Inventory-3

Problem
To measure the big five domains of personality.
Introduction
Personality
The word personality has been derived from Latin word “persona” which means mask worn
by an actor or actress. Therefore, in layman language the word personality is meant by
physical appearance only, but it is much more than that. It is the overall qualities of an
individual which is depicted in his day-to-day behaviour. It is the sum total of a person’s
physical, mental, emotional and temperamental makeup.
The most common definition of personality given by Allport is, “Personality is a dynamic
organisation within which the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his
unique adjustment to his environment”. By dynamic organisation, he meant that personality is
an organised whole which keeps on changing. With the use of word psychophysical system,
he included both the influence of mind and body. It also talks about the adjustment done by
an individual according to the changing environment which are unique to every person.
Personality Assessment
Personality assessment entails the administration, scoring, and interpretation of empirically
supported measures of personality traits and styles in order to improve the accuracy of
behaviour prediction in various situations and environments, structure and inform
psychological interventions, and refine clinical diagnoses. It can be classified into type-based
assessments and trait-based assessments. The type approaches look for broad patterns in the
observed behavioural traits of people in an effort to understand human personality. This
focuses on how individuals are similar to one another and is efficient approach for team
building but are less psychometrically sound. The trait approach is concerned with the
particular psychological traits along which people tend to differ in dependable and stable
ways.
Trait Approach to Personality Assessment
A trait is any “relatively enduring way in which one individual differs from another”
(Guilford, 1959). There are mainly three trait approaches to personality which differs in terms
of whether traits are grouped together into broad dimensions or divided into discriminable
variants.
Cattel’s Approach. According to Cattel, traits are building blocks of personality and
are permanent in nature. He used factor analysis to reduce the number of main
personality traits given by Allport. He identified closely related terms and reduced the
list to 16 personality factors. He also distinguished between constitutional
(determined by biology or nature) and environmental moulded traits (determined by
experience); ability traits (person’s skill in dealing with complexity of a situation),
temperament traits (how a person behaves) and dynamic traits (person’s motivation
and interests); surface traits (visible qualities of personality) and source traits (which
appear from time to time). It is the source traits which are the building blocks of
personality and Cattel identified 20 source traits amongst which 16 source traits were
studied in detail and based on these traits, he formulated 16 personality questionnaire
commonly known as 16PF.
Eysenck’s Approach. Eysenck developed a PEN model of personality which mainly
focuses on three factors of personality: Psychoticism-Normality, Extraversion-
Introversion and Neuroticism-Emotional stability. Individuals who are high on
psychoticism are involved in irresponsible behaviour, have difficulty in dealing with
reality and can be hostile, non-empathetic and manipulative. Extraversion is
characterised as a tendency of being more sociable and directing the psychic energy
outwards i.e., towards other people. On the other hand, introversion refers to directing
the psychic energy inwards and being less sociable. The dimension of neuroticism
refers to the individual’s tendency to become upset and worry about small things in
life. They have more of a negative approach to life. Talking about emotional stable
persons, they have a positive approach towards life and are seen to be calmer in
demanding situations.
Five Factor Model.
Goldberg and Five Factor Model. In 1963, Warren Norman first proposed that five
components might give an appropriate taxonomy of personality traits based on the
recurrence of the same factors across various research and samples. These personality
traits were termed as five factors by Goldberg. Tracing back the history of five factor,
Allport and Odbert created a list of 18,000 terms describing the difference in the
behaviour of one human being from the other. It was a semi-lexical study done in
1936. They organised these thousands of traits into four major categories. Norman
elaborated the classification system given by Allport and Odbert and created seven
classifications. A later analysis of this classification proved it to be more of
overlapping categories, therefore a systematic and clear classification needs to be
done. Cattel using the same classification took a subset of 4,500 traits into
consideration and then reduced it to only 35 variables. By using factor analyses, he
reduced these traits into 16 major personality factors which came into being in his
16PF. Cattel’s classification made other researchers to identify the personality traits
and Fiske in 1949 identified factors which will be popularly known as five factors in
future. Tupes and Christal in 1961 reanalysed, Cattel’s 35 variables and found five
strong and recurrent factors. This five factors structure has been revised by Norman,
Borgatta and Digman and Takemoto-Chock and labelled it under four categories,
namely: Extraversion or Surgency, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional
stability versus Neuroticism and Intellect or Openness. These five factors came to be
known as “Big Five” factors, name given by Goldberg (1981).
Lexical Approach and Factor Analysis Approach. Sir Francis Galton is considered to
be the first scientist to recognise the fundamentally accepted lexical hypothesis.
According to this hypothesis, the most important and relevant personality traits and
differences will be encoded in almost all the languages as single terms. Many theories
have been formed on the basis of this hypothesis, Gordon Allport and Cattel have
used this hypothesis in identifying the basic personality traits.
Factor analysis is a statistical tool which helps in finding if the items or questions on a
test or survey reflect more fundamental underlying dimensions or abstract variables
known as factors, which are ideally independent of one another. It also allows
researchers to reduce specific traits into few general traits.
Description of five factors. The five factors can be rearranged as to make acronym:
OCEAN for remembering easily. The characteristics of the five factors are:
Neuroticism (N). This is the most extensive domain of personality scale. It ranges
from calm, composed personality at the lower end to anxious and nervous personality
at the higher end. The negative feelings such as fear, sadness, embarrassment, anger
and guilt are the basis of N domain. People who are high on N domain are more prone
to have irrational ideas, are less able to control their impulses and cannot cope
properly with stress. The individuals who are low on N domain are calmer, composed
and can cope efficiently with challenging situations.
Extraversion (E). The main characteristic of extraverted people is being sociable.
Along with this, extraverts are assertive, active, talkative, excited, energetic,
optimistic, cheerful and upbeat. Introverts one the other hand are reserved,
independent, even-paced, prefer to remain alone, sober and cautious.
Openness to Experience (O). Open individuals are curious about both inner and outer
world. They are active imaginator, aesthetic, sensitive, intellectually curious,
independent of judgement and divergent thinker. On the other hand, individuals who
are low on O dimension depicts conservative outlook, narrower scope, low intensity
of interests, down-to-earth, simple and conservative behaviour.
Agreeableness (A). The agreeable side of a personality is considered to be a healthier
one. They are more into helping other people and are sympathetic to other people.
They are of good nature, trusting person and cooperative. People with high A are
associated with dependent personality disorder. On the other hand, individuals who
are low on A, are associated with narcissistic, antisocial and paranoid personality
disorder. They are characterised as skeptical of others intentions, competitive,
egocentric and irritable.
Conscientiousness (C). Individuals high on C domain are purposeful, strong-willed,
self-determined, well organised, responsible and precise. On the other hand, people
who are low on C domain are considered to be disorganised, impulsive and careless.
Cross-cultural Consistency of Factors. There has been study done to observe these
factors in eastern as well as western cultures and the cultures where these factors are
found include British, German, Portuguese, Czech, Turkish, Hebrew, Chinese,
Korean, Japanese, French, Filipino, and Canadian, as well as native-born and Spanish-
speaking residents of the United States. The difference found is regarding the
importance of these factors among various regions. In Australia, the more desirable
factors are extraversion and agreeableness whereas in Japan, conscientiousness is
considered as more socially desirable. In Hong Kong and India agreeableness is most
important factor whereas emotional stability is socially desirable in Singapore.
Stability of Factors. There have been many longitudinal studies conducted to find the
stability among five factors and it has been found that the factors which exist in
childhood are likely to be carried to adulthood. A study on 15,000 twins, ages 18 to
59 was conducted in Finland, the result of which indicated a stability of neuroticism
 and extraversion for both men and women. A comparison for over a period of 4 years
of over 2,000 Americans and 789 Belgian adolescents showed that the factors of
extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness remained stable among men and
women but there was an increase in openness to experience. A longitudinal study on
same research participants for over 6 years also indicated a stability among the five
factors of personality.
Assessment of five factor model? The assessment of five factor model can be done
through various scales and questionnaires one amongst which is NEO-FFI. The other
scales which can be used are: Big Five Inventory (BFI). It is a self-report inventory
which consists of short phrases with an easy vocabulary. It has a total of 44 items.
Another scale which can be used is Big Five Aspects Scale (BFAS). It consists of 100
items which will give information about the five major personality traits and their ten
aspects.
NEO Inventories
NEO PI to NEO-PI-3. Robert McCrae and Paul Costa while Working at the
Gerontology Research Center of the National Institutes of Health in Baltimore, Maryland
started researching on five factor model. They developed a personality test to measure the
dimensions of five factor model namely, NEO Personality Inventory in 1985.It had 180 items
rated on a five-point Likert scale. The revised version of this inventory, NEO PI-R came in
1992. It has two parallel forms (Form S is for self-reports and Form R is for outside
observers) consisting of 240 items rated on a five-point Likert scale. It is used to measure five
domains (i.e., N, E, O, A, and C) and 30 facet (six subfactors for each of the five domains)
scores. However, some items were difficult for adolescents to understand. To improve the
psychometrics and readability of the full NEO-PI-R, McCrae, Costa, and Martin (2005)
developed the NEO-PI-3, in which 37 of the NEO-PI-R items were replaced. The NEO-PI-3
scales were essentially equivalent to those of the NEO-PI-R, but could be used by adolescents
as young as 12 as well as by adults.
NEO-FFI to NEO-FFI-3. In 1989, Costa and McCrae published a short version, the
NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), that assesses the five factors with five 12-item
scales. It was based on items from the earliest version of the NEO-PI, and did not offer the
optimal short form of the instrument. Some researchers have criticized its psychometric
properties, in particular its item factor structure. In 2004, McCrae and Costa, therefore,
proposed a revision of the NEO-FFI in which 14 items were replaced by alternatives from the
NEO-PI-R item pool. The Revised NEO-FFI (NEO-FFI-R) showed slightly improved
psychometric properties and better readability compared to the NEO-FFI. One of the NEO-
FFI-R items (“I’m hard-headed and tough-minded in my attitudes”) was dropped in the
development of the NEO-PI-3. So, the short version of the NEO-PI-3–the NEO-FFI-3–
consists of 59 NEO-FFI-R items plus the replacement (“I have no sympathy for beggars”) for
the dropped item. The NEO-PI-3 and the NEO-FFI-3 were published in 2010.
Methodology
Subject
• Name: Nishi Rani
 • Date of Birth: 24 April 1998
• Age: 24
• Gender: Female
• Time Taken: Approximately 15 minutes
• Date of testing: 31st March 2023
Tool
NEO-Five Factor Inventory-3
It is a brief comprehensive/global measure of five major domains of personality
according to Five Factor model: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness,
Conscientiousness. It provides global information on personality. It is a 60-item version of
NEO-PI-3 with 12 items measuring each of the five domains. It includes self-descriptive
statements that participants respond to using a five-point Likert- type scale. These
instruments can be used by both adolescents (age 12 and older) and adults, and they may be
particularly useful in populations with limited literacy. This instrument cannot be used with
Individuals who are suffering from disorders that affect their ability to complete self-report
measures reliably and validly (e.g., persons with dementia, psychosis). Materials included in
the instrument are Professional Manual, item booklets (two forms of the item booklet: Form
S for self-reports, and Form R for observer ratings), answer sheets (two types of answer
sheets: hand-scorable (HS) sheet and scannable-scorable (SS) sheet) and YOUR NEO
Summary.
Reliability. Internal consistencies for the five 12-item Form S NEO-FFI-3 domain
scales ranged from .71 to .87 for middle-school children, .72 to .83 for adolescents, and .79 to
.86 for adults (McCrae & Costa, 2007). Robins, Fraley, Roberts, and Trzesniewski (2001)
reported two-week retest reliabilities of .86 to .90 for the NEO-FFI scales. McCrae, Yik,
Trapnell, Bond, and Paulhus (1998) reported two-year retest reliabilities for the full NEO-PI-
R; coefficients for N, E, O, A, and C were .83, .91, .89, .87, and .88.
Validity. The validity of NEO scales is attested by the results published in over 2,000
articles, chapters, and books. NEO scales have been correlated in meaningful ways with
scales from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI; Hathaway &
McKinley, 1983; Siegler et al., 1990), the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (Lehne,
2002), the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991), and the Basic Personality
Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992a). They have proven useful in predicting vocational
interests (De Fruyt & Mervielde, 1997), ego development (Einstein & Lanning, 1998),
attachment styles (Shaver & Brennan, 1992), and psychiatric diagnoses of personality
disorders (McCrae, Yang, et al., 2001).
Applications. The NEO inventory can be widely used in clinical settings for both
outpatient and inpatient. Though it must be kept in mind that it is not used directly to
diagnose a disorder, rather it can provide a base for diagnosis. It gives a description of
strengths and weaknesses of a client to clinician. An important feature of NEO inventory is
that it helps in giving feedback to the client. There is a separate NEO summary sheet which
can be given to client briefly describing the results obtained of five different factors.
 Limitations. It gives a global picture of personality traits rather than focusing on
individual characteristics. It does not evaluate cognitive abilities or distortions. Also, a
minimal amount of reading and understanding is needed to administer this test. There is no
proper measurement of validity available, only the three questions in the name of validity test
are provided which can also be filled incorrectly by the subject.
Administration. NEO-FFI can be administered individually or in groups. The testing
environment need to be comfortable testing environment and free of distractions and with
adequate lighting. A table/flat surface on which participant can write and a pencil are also
needed. If the respondent uses eye glasses the examiner should be sure that the respondent
uses them during testing. The examiner should engage the respondent in the task of
completing the test to reduce the possibility of the response sets or random responding to the
items.
The participant was seated comfortably and rapport was established with him/ her.
He/she was assured about the confidentiality and was provided with the booklet (Form S) and
pencil. He/she was told to read instructions on first page. After he/she reads and understands
the nature of the task, tell him/her to turn to page 2 and provide the identifying information
requested at the top of the second page before responding to any of the items. After he/she
responded to the items, he/she is thanked for his/her participation. There is no time limit for
the NEO-FFI. Most respondents require 10-15 min to complete except older adults and those
with limited reading skills.
Scoring.
Missing Responses. Examine the response area of the item booklet to be sure that a
response has been given for each item. If unanswered items are found, the participant should
be asked to complete them. If participant is unsure of the meaning of an item or is unsure of
how to respond, he or she may be told to use the neutral response option. If 10 or more items
have been left lank, the test is considered invalid and should not be formally scored. When 9
or fewer items have been left blank, the blank items should be scores as the neutral response
option was selected. Any domain scale containing more than 4 missing responses should be
interpreted with caution.
Validity Checks. At the end of the NEO-FFI, three item ask the participant if he/she
has responded to all the statements, entered responses in the correct boxes, and responded
accurately and honestly. If the participant indicated that responses were not entered in the
correct order, or were not answered honestly and accurately, the test normally should not be
scored.
Calculating Domain Scores. Choose the first column of items in the answer grid of
hand-scorable (HS) sheet. Sum the values of the marked responses of the 12 items and enter
the score in the spaced labelled “N”. Use the same procedure to calculate the calculate the
remaining domain raw scores.
Profiling Scores. Profile areas for men and women are provided in the profile page of
the form. Choose the column men or women depending on the gender of the participant.
Choose the column labelled N and locate the domain score of the participant and mark an
“X”. Use the same procedure to mark the remaining domain raw scores. Connect the Xs with
a line to produce a graph of participant’s NEO FFI scores.
 Finding out T Scores. T scores can be identified by finding the score corresponding
to each domain raw score in the column labelled T. T scores of 56 or higher are considered
high. The T scores ranging from 55 to 45 are considered average and T scores pf 44 or lower
are considered low.
Your NEO Summary. After scoring and profiling the results of NEO-FFI, Your NEO
Summary sheet can be used to provide feedback to the participants about his/her scores. The
first row represents the N domain. If the T score is high, place a check mark in the left-hand
box. If the T score is average, place a check mark in the middle box. If the score is low, place
a check mark in the right-hand box. Use the same procedure to complete the remainder of the
forms. The second through fifth rows corresponds to E, O, A and C domains respectively.
Table
Domain wise raw scores, T scores and their interpretation using NEO-FFI 3
Domain Raw score T score Interpretation
Neuroticism 21 50 Average
Extraversion 25 45 Average
Openness 24 43 Low
Agreeableness 35 55 Average
Conscientiousness 28 43 Low

Results
The participant’s T score on Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and
Conscientiousness are 50, 45, 43, 55 and 43 respectively.
Her score was found to be average on Neuroticism, Extraversion and Agreeableness and low
on Openness and Conscientiousness.
Discussion
The aim of this test is to measure big five personality traits using NEO-FFI-3. The test was
conducted on a 24-year-old female pursuing her masters in psychology.
The results obtained indicate that the subject is on average level for Neuroticism,
Extraversion and Agreeableness and low on Openness and Conscientiousness.
An average score on Neuroticism indicates that there is emotional stability due to stressful or
demanding situations but she is able to cope up with these situations and leading towards
more emotional stable state.
Being an average Extraversion indicates an ambivert personality which means that she does
enjoy being with other people and is sociable but has equal importance for alone time.
According to different situations, she can be a chatterbox or silent person.
Her Agreeableness level is also average which means that there is a feeling of concern for
others, is helpful in nature but not at the cost of self-sacrifice.
Low score on openness indicates that the subject is conservative in nature, plans things in
simple terms and is of down-to-earth personality.
Conscientiousness being low means that the subject focuses on present moment more and
does not have any determined or rigid future goals. This can be thus linked to being careless
and disorganised.

Conclusion
The majority of the personality domains of the subject lies within the average range, where
majority of general population lies. She is though conservative in nature but tries to help
others and in sympathetic towards other people. Being disorganised and careless does not
hinders her ability to deal with challenging situations.
Research studies
A research study was done to find which factors of personality domain helps in initiating or
sustaining the ketamine response. NEO-FFI was tested on 125 Treatment Resistant Depressed
(TRD) patients and the results indicated that the domain of openness is the only domain
which predict sustained outcome (Dale et al., 2020).
Another study was done to find the relationship between personality traits (using NEO-FFI) and the
outcome of intensive outpatient treatment programme in alcoholic patients. 74 alcohol dependent
patients were taken as sample and the results show that the patients whose relapse rate was within
12 months were high on neuroticism and low on conscientiousness (Bottlender & Soyka, 2005).

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