In our last article, we spoke about the Big Five Plus Personality Inventory developed by The Psychometric World. Based on the HEXACO model of personality proposed by Ashton and Lee, the test (popularly known as BigFive+) takes into account the 6 major dimensions of personality and their 12 facets. These 6 major dimensions are extraversion, agreeableness, emotionality, conscientiousness, openness, and honesty-humility.
Based on the test-takers responses on the Big Five Plus Personality Inventory, The Psychometric World delivers a detailed personality profile of candidates. The report we produce gives the administrator an insight into the personality characteristics of the candidate. In order to cover all bases and make it easy for the administrator to get a true account of the candidate’s personality, the report consists of two sections: a summary table, and a detailed profile with graph. We discuss these sections in turn below.
The summary table provides an over-all view of the candidate’s personality. We plot the candidate’s score on each dimension in a table, with short descriptors for low and high scores. For example, a low score on extraversion would mean that the candidate is impersonal, reflective, and thoughtful, while a high score would indicate sociability and friendliness. The closer a candidate gets to preference scores 1, 2, 3 or 8, 9, 10, the closer their behavior will be to the descriptors. Scores in the middle (4,5, 6, or 7) are close to or on the average. This snapshot view of personality allows the administrator to have a general view of the test-taker’s personality. It can also enable to the report-viewer to identify patterns in the candidate’s personality, although that is an advance level subject in profile interpretation and only trained professionals are able to grasp it.
The next section gives a more detailed view of the candidate’s personality for all the dimensions. This section is particularly useful for administrators who have no formal training on this tool. Here, we present the candidate’s score in graphical form, and provide a detailed narrative on each of the dimensions measured by interpreting the candidate’s score on that factor. To facilitate easy understanding for the report viewer, we first present the candidate’s name and score in the title area, below which is a short description of the intended meaning of the factor. For example, for extraversion, we mention what high and low scores on the factor may represent, and how people with high/low scores might behave in social situations. Below this is a personalized comment about the candidate based on their score on a dimension. This personalized comment covers different aspects of the dimension, such as how the candidate may react to adversity, how they behave in social interactions, the kind of relationships they have with people, etc. These personalized comments are provided for all 6 factors of the test, and it helps the administrator to better understand what the scores represent and how they manifest through the candidate into their role in the workplace.
Although our report makes valid and reliable interpretations about the candidate’s personality, it is important to note that psychological assessments are always approximations and not precise indicators. Hence, the results from this report must be viewed in conjunction with other information about the client, along with the report-viewer’s own judgement. Depending on the candidate’s work-role and personal circumstances, the contents of this report are likely to be a reasonable description their behavior and personality for about 18 to 24 months, and The Psychometric World suggests administering the BigFive+ every 18 months to obtain the updated personality profile of the candidates.
References
Somani, P. (2021). Big Five Plus Inventory. The Psychometric World. https://thepsychometricworld.com/big-five-plus-personality-inventory/
About the author
Payal Somani
Payal is an undergraduate student, pursuing a major in Psychology. While her aspiration lies in clinical psychology, she is keen on learning about all fields in the domain of mental health. She thrives on books, music, and traveling, and dreams of making it big someday.
