For those who believe that self-discovery is a lifelong journey, sometimes even a deep dive isn’t enough. You might want the full map. If personality is a landscape, the IPIP-NEO-120 is the high-resolution satellite imagery that captures every hill, valley, and stream of your psychological makeup.
While shorter tests give you the “big picture,” the 120-item version is widely considered the gold standard for personal and academic research. It doesn’t just tell you that you are “Open” or “Conscientious”; it breaks those traits down into 30 specific facets, giving you an incredibly detailed view of why you react, think, and feel the way you do.
As the philosopher Socrates famously insisted:
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
The IPIP-NEO-120 is the most thorough examination of your personality available in the public domain today.
Why 120 Questions? The Science of Facets
In the world of psychometrics, we talk about bandwidth. A 10-question test has low bandwidth; a 120-question test has high bandwidth.
The Big Five traits are actually “umbrellas” that cover many smaller traits called facets. For example, under the umbrella of Conscientiousness, there are six distinct facets:
- Self-Efficacy: Confidence in your ability to accomplish things.
- Orderliness: Your need for organization and tidiness.
- Dutifulness: Your sense of moral obligation and reliability.
- Achievement-Striving: Your drive to succeed and meet goals.
- Self-Discipline: Your ability to persist despite distractions.
- Cautiousness: Your tendency to think carefully before acting.
By measuring 120 points of data, the IPIP-NEO-120 can show you that you might be high in Orderliness but low in Achievement-Striving. This level of detail explains the “contradictions” we all feel—like being very tidy at home but struggling to stay focused on long-term career goals.
What Makes the IPIP-NEO-120 Unique?
The IPIP-NEO-120 was specifically developed to provide a shorter but equally accurate alternative to the original 300-item NEO-PI-R. Research has shown that this 120-item version retains almost all the predictive power of the longer test while being much more manageable to complete.
It provides scores across the five core dimensions of human personality:
- Openness to Experience: (Imagination, Artistic Interests, Emotionality, Adventurousness, Intellect, Liberalism)
- Conscientiousness: (Self-Efficacy, Orderliness, Dutifulness, Achievement-Striving, Self-Discipline, Cautiousness)
- Extraversion: (Friendliness, Gregariousness, Assertiveness, Activity Level, Excitement-Seeking, Cheerfulness)
- Agreeableness: (Trust, Morality, Altruism, Cooperation, Modesty, Sympathy)
- Neuroticism: (Anxiety, Anger, Depression, Self-Consciousness, Immoderation, Vulnerability)
Take the Full Map Assessment
This assessment takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes. We recommend taking it when you are in a neutral mood and in a quiet environment where you won’t be interrupted.
➡️ Start the IPIP-NEO-120 Personality Assessment
Turning Your Map into a Compass
A map is only useful if you use it to navigate. Your detailed facet scores allow you to pinpoint exactly where you might want to grow:
- Low Self-Discipline? Use the Tiny Habits Method to build momentum.
- High Anxiety (Neuroticism facet)? Practice with our Calm Shift game to retrain your attention away from threats.
- Low Assertiveness (Extraversion facet)? Use the DEAR MAN Script Builder to practice standing your ground.
Safety, Privacy, and Responsibility
At PsychKit, we believe your data belongs to you. This assessment is completely private; your responses are processed on your device and are never stored on our servers.
Important Disclaimer: This assessment is a tool for self-discovery and education. It is not a clinical diagnosis, a medical evaluation, or a substitute for professional mental health care. Every individual is responsible for how they interpret and apply their results.
Emergency Notice: If you are feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, or are in a mental health crisis, please put down the screen and seek human help. Visit your nearest Government Medical College or Emergency Department immediately, or call a local crisis helpline. These tools are designed for wellness, not for crisis management.
References & Scientific Sources
- Johnson, J. A. (2014). Measuring thirty facets of the Five Factor Model with a 120-item public domain inventory of International Personality Item Pool items. Journal of Research in Personality, 51, 78–89. (The primary validation study for the 120-item version).
- Goldberg, L. R., et al. (2006). The international personality item pool and the future of public-domain personality measures. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(1), 84–96.
- Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1995). Domains and facets: Hierarchical interpretations of the NEO-PI-R. Journal of Personality Assessment, 64(1), 21–50.