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IPIP Big Five 50 factor markers

The IPIP Big Five 50 is a questionnaire of fifty short statements that measures five broad traits of personality, ten statements for each[1]. This page prints the whole instrument as this site uses it: all of its statements, how they are scored, the licence it is used under and the papers that published it.

Measures
Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional stability, and Intellect or imagination
The statements
50
Licence
Public domain
Statements from
ipip.ori.org
Used on this site by
Personality test

What it is

The statements are Goldberg's markers of the Big Five, published as a sample questionnaire by the International Personality Item Pool, a collection of questionnaire statements that its authors have given to everyone. The pool's authors describe how it came about in the paper listed below, and a study of adults in Scotland tested these markers: how well the statements of a scale agree with one another and with another measure of the same trait.

Each statement is a short phrase that describes a person, for example "Am the life of the party". You say how accurate it is as a description of you, from very inaccurate to very accurate. The five traits are extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and intellect or imagination. The last two are named as in the original markers: emotional stability is the opposite end of what many questionnaires call neuroticism, and intellect or imagination is close to what many call openness.

Scoring in plain words

Answers are numbers from one for very inaccurate to five for very accurate. About half of the statements are worded in the opposite direction of their trait, and these are counted backwards, so that a higher number always means more of the trait: an answer of 2 counts as 4. The score of a trait is the sum of its ten statements, so it lies between ten and fifty.

The list of statements below marks the backwards ones with an R, and the scoring key under it says which statements make up each trait. The statements are printed in the order of the original sample questionnaire.

What it can and cannot tell you

Ten statements per trait give a steadier picture than two and a coarser one than a longer questionnaire with several facets for each trait. A result describes how you answered on one day, and it moves a little if you answer again.

It does not tell you what kind of person you are, which job to take or how you will act in a given situation. The Big Five describe tendencies that most people share to some degree, and a place in the middle of a trait is the most common result.

Where you can try it here

The personality test asks these statements and shows your answers on five scales. For a finer look at the same five traits, the Big Five test asks a longer questionnaire. How the site works out and words its results is described on the methodology page.

The questionnaire as we use it

The authors' instructions

Describe yourself as you generally are now, not as you wish to be in the future. Describe yourself as you honestly see yourself, in relation to other people you know of the same sex as you are, and roughly your same age. So that you can describe yourself in an honest manner, your responses will be kept in absolute confidence. Indicate for each statement whether it is 1. Very Inaccurate, 2. Moderately Inaccurate, 3. Neither Accurate Nor Inaccurate, 4. Moderately Accurate, or 5. Very Accurate as a description of you.

The statements

Each statement is printed as its authors wrote it. R: counted backwards.

  1. Am the life of the party.
  2. Feel little concern for others.R
  3. Am always prepared.
  4. Get stressed out easily.R
  5. Have a rich vocabulary.
  6. Don't talk a lot.R
  7. Am interested in people.
  8. Leave my belongings around.R
  9. Am relaxed most of the time.
  10. Have difficulty understanding abstract ideas.R
  11. Feel comfortable around people.
  12. Insult people.R
  13. Pay attention to details.
  14. Worry about things.R
  15. Have a vivid imagination.
  16. Keep in the background.R
  17. Sympathize with others' feelings.
  18. Make a mess of things.R
  19. Seldom feel blue.
  20. Am not interested in abstract ideas.R
  21. Start conversations.
  22. Am not interested in other people's problems.R
  23. Get chores done right away.
  24. Am easily disturbed.R
  25. Have excellent ideas.
  26. Have little to say.R
  27. Have a soft heart.
  28. Often forget to put things back in their proper place.R
  29. Get upset easily.R
  30. Do not have a good imagination.R
  31. Talk to a lot of different people at parties.
  32. Am not really interested in others.R
  33. Like order.
  34. Change my mood a lot.R
  35. Am quick to understand things.
  36. Don't like to draw attention to myself.R
  37. Take time out for others.
  38. Shirk my duties.R
  39. Have frequent mood swings.R
  40. Use difficult words.
  41. Don't mind being the center of attention.
  42. Feel others' emotions.
  43. Follow a schedule.
  44. Get irritated easily.R
  45. Spend time reflecting on things.
  46. Am quiet around strangers.R
  47. Make people feel at ease.
  48. Am exacting in my work.
  49. Often feel blue.R
  50. Am full of ideas.

Answers, from 1 to 5

  • 1 Very Inaccurate
  • 2 Moderately Inaccurate
  • 3 Neither Accurate Nor Inaccurate
  • 4 Moderately Accurate
  • 5 Very Accurate

How it is scored

  • Extraversion: the sum of statements 1, 6R, 11, 16R, 21, 26R, 31, 36R, 41, 46R.
  • Agreeableness: the sum of statements 2R, 7, 12R, 17, 22R, 27, 32R, 37, 42, 47.
  • Conscientiousness: the sum of statements 3, 8R, 13, 18R, 23, 28R, 33, 38R, 43, 48.
  • Emotional stability: the sum of statements 4R, 9, 14R, 19, 24R, 29R, 34R, 39R, 44R, 49R.
  • Intellect or imagination: the sum of statements 5, 10R, 15, 20R, 25, 30R, 35, 40, 45, 50.

A statement marked R is counted backwards: an answer a counts as 6 minus a.

Licence

Public domain (International Personality Item Pool)

Because the IPIP has been placed in the public domain, permission has already been automatically granted for any person to use IPIP items, scales, and inventories for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial..

https://ipip.ori.org/newPermission.htm

Read at the source on October 1, 2026.

How to cite it

Goldberg, L. R. (1992). The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure. Psychological Assessment, 4(1), 26-42. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.4.1.26

Gow, A. J., Whiteman, M. C., Pattie, A., & Deary, I. J. (2005). Goldberg's 'IPIP' Big-Five factor markers: Internal consistency and concurrent validation in Scotland. Personality and Individual Differences, 39(2), 317-329. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2005.01.011

Goldberg, L. R., Johnson, J. A., Eber, H. W., Hogan, R., Ashton, M. C., Cloninger, C. R., & Gough, H. G. (2006). The International Personality Item Pool and the future of public-domain personality measures. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(1), 84-96. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2005.08.007

Sources

  1. Goldberg, L. R. (1992). The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure. Psychological Assessment, 4(1), 26-42.doi:10.1037/1040-3590.4.1.26