NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R)
Robert R. McCrae & Paul T. Costa Jr.
BACKGROUND/
HISTORY/
VERSIONS
THEORETICAL
BACKGROUND
Evolution of the Five-Factor
Theory
By the late 1980s, Costa and McCrae
became confident that they and
other researchers had found a stable
structure of personality. They
objected to earlier theories as
relying too heavily on clinical
experiences and on armchair
speculation.
The NEO Inventories are concise
measures of the five major
dimensions, or domains, of
personality and the most important
traits or facets that define each
domain. Together, the five broad
domain scales and the 30 specific
facet scales allow a comprehensive
assessment of adolescent and adult
personality.
NEO PI-R was published in 1992,
after several years of development.
It superseded in 1985 NEO
Personality Inventory (NEO PI),
which was an elaboration of an
earlier 3 Factor Inventory.
By the 1980s, the rift between
classical theories and modern
research-based
theories
had
become quite pronounced. Indeed,
this tension between the old and
new was one of the driving forces
behind Costa and McCrae’s
development of an alternative
theory, one that went beyond the
five-factor taxonomy.
The Big Five
The study of traits was first begun by
Allport and Odbert (1930s) and
continued by Cattell (1940s) and by
Tupes, Christal, and Norman (1960s)
A 240-item questionnaire that
measures all five dimensions of
personality:
TEST
DESCRIPTION
Agreeableness
(A),
Conscientiousness (‘C), Neuroticism
(N), Extraversion (E), and Openness
to Experience (O).
In the late 1970s and early 1980s,
Costa and McCrae were simply using
factor analytic techniques to
examine the stability and structure
of personality. During this time,
Costa and McCrae focused initially
on the two main dimensions of
neuroticism
and
extraversion.
Almost immediately after they
discovered N and E, Costa and
McCrae found a third factor, which
they called openness to experience.
As late as 1983, McCrae and Costa
were arguing for a three-factor
model of personality. Not until 1985
did they begin to report work on the
five factors of personality.
AGE
17 to 89 years old
$85 per single administration + short
report (graphic description).
supplement to self-reports from
adult clients.
$110 per single administration + long
version report (graphic description
and interpretation report)
Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert
scale.
Internal
consistency
coefficients for both Forms R and S
range from .86-.95 for domain scales
and from .56-.90 for facet scales.
The NEO PI-R is validated against
other personality inventories as well
as projective techniques.
PRICE PER TEST
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ADMINISTRATION
May
be
administered
individually or by groups.
Environment
must
be
comfortable and free from
distractions
and
provide
adequate lighting.
A pencil and a flat surface such
as a desk and a clipboard on
which the respondents can write
are
also
needed
for
administration.
If
the
respondents
use
eyeglasses, the examiner should
be sure that the respondents use
them during testing. The
examiner should engage the
respondents in the task of
completing the test to reduce
the possibility of response sets
or random responding to the
items.
TIME
QUALIFICATION
LEVEL
The NEO PI-R is self-administered
and is available in two parallel
versions. each version contains 240
items, and 3 validity items and
requires a 6th grade reading level.
Form S, designed for self-reports, is
appropriate for use with adult men
and women, including individuals of
college age.
Form R, designed for observer
reports, is written in the third person
for peer, spouse, or expert ratings.
Use as an alternative measure or as a
SCORING
30-40 minutes/35-45 minutes
Level B/S
The administration and scoring of
their instruments can be performed
by individuals who do not have
formal
training
in
clinical
psychology, personality, or related
fields.
Interpretation of NEO PI-R requires
professional
training
in
psychological
testing
and
measurement, in addition to
familiarity with the materials and
procedures presented in this
Professional Manual.
NEO PI-R should not be scored if 41
or more responses are missing. If
fewer than 41 responses are missing,
the missing items should be scored
as if the neutral response option was
selected.
INTERPRETATION
RELIABILITY
Internal consistency coefficients
were calculated at 0.86 to 0.95 for
both the forms (self and
observer). While only three of the
subtests had good long-term testretest
reliability
(Neuroticism,
Extraversion,
Openness
to
Experience), all of them had high
short-term test-retest reliability.
Internal consistency coefficients
were calculated at 0.86 to 0.95 for
both the forms (self and
observer). While only three of the
subtests had good long-term testretest
reliability
(Neuroticism,
Extraversion,
Openness
to
Experience), all of them had high
short-term test-retest reliability.
The authors of the NEO PI-R
maintain that empirical evidence
does not support the use of validity
scales. Instead, three simple items
were included at the conclusion of
the inventory asking examinees if
they had tried to respond to items in
an honest and accurate manner, if
they had answered all items, and if
responses had been entered in the
correct space.
VALIDITY
In response to criticism of the lack of
formal validity scales, three NEO PIR research validity scales were
developed by Schinka, Kinder, and
Kremer (1997):
 Inconsistent Responding scale
– to assess random responding.
 Negative
Presentation
Management scale - to assess
negative
response
distortion/overreporting
or
“faking bad”
 Positive
Presentation
Management (PPM) scale - to
assess
positive
response
distortion/underreporting
or
“faking good.”
The NEO PI-R items are non-invasive
and possess face-validity, but like
most objective inventories the items
are also transparent and thus
vulnerable to positive response bias.
UTILITY
The utility of the NEO PI-R is clearly
related to the professional’s
background
and
knowledge.
Corporate setting (job profiling) The
utility of the NEO PI-R is clearly
related to the professional’s
background
and
knowledge.
Corporate setting (job profiling)
REFERENCES:
Costa, P. (1992, January). Neo PI-R professional manual.
ResearchGate.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240133762_Neo_P
I-R_professional_manual
Detrick, P. (n.d.). NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PIR).
https://post.ca.gov/portals/0/post_docs/publications/psychol
ogical-screening-manual/NEO_PI-R.pdf
Feist, J., Feist, G. J. D., & Roberts, T. (2017). Theories of
Personality (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education
Neo personality inventory-revised (Neo Pi-R). Statistics
Solutions.
(2023,
May
22).
https://www.statisticssolutions.com/freeresources/directory-of-survey-instruments/neo-personalityinventory-revised-neo-pir/#:~:text=Reliability%20and%20Validity&text=While%20onl
y%20three%20of%20the,%2C%20convergent%2C%20and%
20divergent%20validity.