NEO PI-R
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A. Description
NEO
PI-R (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory- Revised) was
authored by Paul T. Costa Jr. and Robert McCrae. It was originally published by Psychological
Assessment Resources, Inc. in 1978 and was revised in 1992 (Costa and McCrae,
1992; Murphy, Spies & Plake, 2006).
Its comprehensive kit includes a professional manual, 10 each of
reusable Form S and Form R booklets, 5 for women and 5 for men, 25 each of the
hand-scorable answer sheets for both Form S and Form R, 25 adult profile forms,
and 25 NEO Summary feedback sheets.
There is also the NEO Software System with NEI PI-R and NEO-FFI (Neuroticism
Extraversion Openness - Five Factors: a brief 60-item version of NEO PI-R)
modules available in the form of a CD-ROM, including unlimited interpretative
reports and 5 free on-screen administrations of either PI-R or FFI (Murphy,
Spies & Plake, 2006).
In terms of cost, Form S and Form R
reusable booklets are available in packages of 10 at a cost of $25 per. Hand
scoring answer sheets are available for $21 per package of 25. Ancillary
materials include Adult (Forms S and R) and College Student Profile forms
($21.00 per package of 25), and summary feedback forms for clients at $15 per
package of 25 (Piedmont, May 3, 2001). Total cost could be $245 per NEO PI-R
comprehensive kit (Tinsley, 1994). The
purpose of the test is to “obtain a comprehensive assessment of adult
personality based on the Five Factor Model of Personality” (Murphy, Spies &
Plake, 2006, p.475). Computerized
scoring services have their own cost: a professional Report Service is
available from PAR. To use, examiners must purchase special computer scorable
answer sheets. Packages of ten are available at $79.00 (a bulk discount is
available). Individual users can purchase the scoring software for personal
use. The cost for the unlimited use NEO Software System is $495.00. This
computer program provides an 8-10 page report covering a wide range of
functioning. Also available is a three-page report that can be given to the
client. Another advantage of the scoring program is that it will allow the user
to compare a self-report with an observer rating simultaneously. This can be
used in clinical work with couples (Piedmont, May 3, 2001).
The theoretical basis for all types of NEO
is the Five Factor personality model, which is based on an analysis of
personality traits that concluded with five major domains of normal adult
personality: neuroticism (emotional domain), Extroversion (interpersonal
domain), Openness (experiential domain), Agreeableness (attitudinal domain),
Conscientiousness (motivational). Each
domain consists of six facet scales that further define it, all together
summing up 30 scales (Tinsley, 1994).
Murphy, Spies & Plake (2006) report
that NEO PI-R was designed for a
population of college –age and adult test takers both men and women, ages 17
and older while Piedmont (May 3, 2001) argues that it can be used for older
adolescents and adults 16 and over. User
qualifications include sixth-grade reading ability for both S and R forms (Murphy,
Spies & Plake, 2006).
In terms of norms, standardization sample,
and its subsamples, for NEO PI-R, information comes from two pools of
participants, those tested using Form S and those tested using Form R. Normative information for Form S is based on
a sample of 500 men and 500 women screened from a larger pool of 2,273
individuals. These 1000 individuals were selected demographically in order to
match U.S. Census projections for 1995. Form R norms were obtained from 143
ratings of 73 men and 134 ratings of 69 women. These ratings were obtained from
both spouses and multiple peer ratings (Piedmont, May 3, 2001).
The NEO PI-R contains 240 items that are
answered on a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree (1) to
strongly disagree (5). Scales are balanced to control for the effects of
acquiescence. Items are clearly laid out in the test booklet and the answer
sheet is sufficiently spacious to allow for easy recording of responses (Piedmont,
2001). Each one of the 30 scales has 8
items. The 30 scales are the following:
a) Neuroticism (N): N1 (Anxiety); N2 (Angry-Hostility); N3 (Depression); N4 (Self-Consciousness);
N5 (Impulsiveness); and N6 (Vulnerability); b) Extroversion (E): E1 (Warm); E2
(Gregariousness); E3 (Assertiveness); E4 (Activity); E5 (Excitement-seeking);
and E6 (Positive Emotions); c) Openness (O): O1 (Fantasy); O2 (Aesthetics); O3
(Feelings); O4 (Actions); O5 (Ideas); and O6 (Values); Agreeableness (A): A1
(Trust); A2 (Straightforwardness); A3 (Altruism); A4 (Compliance); A5
(Modesty); and A6 (Tender-Mindedness); and d) Conscientiousness (C): Competence
(C1); C2 (Order); C3 (Dutifulness); C4 (Achievement-Seeking); C5 (Self-Discipline);
and C6 (Deliberation) (Costa and McCrae, 1992).
B. Psychometrics
In regard to reliability, Alphas for the
domain range from .86 to .92 for Form S, and from .89 to .95 for Form R.
Internal consistency estimates for the facets from Form S range from .56 to
.81. For the Form R facets, these values range from .60 to .90. Six-year retest reliabilities for the
Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness domains ranged from .68 to .83 in both
self-reports and observer ratings. Three-year retest coefficients between .63
and .79 were found for the domains of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness (Piedmont,
May 3, 2001).
In regard to validity, it has empirically
shown that the NEO PI-R is “a sophisticated and well developed personality
inventory” (Piedmont, May 3, 2001). Data document the factorial structure of
the instrument as well as the utility of the facet scales; intra-domain facets
do have sufficient discriminant validity to warrant their interpretive
value. The NEO PI-R is also a flexible
instrument, being useful and valid in both normal and clinical contexts.
Initial validity data indicated NEO PI-R evaluations are generalizable across
various gender, cultural and age groups. However, there is no substitute for
local norms in individual application of the instrument (Piedmont, May 3,
2001). The dimensions of the NEO-PI-R
have been found to emerge over different types of factoring methods and types
of samples over self-reports and observer ratings and even cross-culturally
(e.g., Spanish, Korean, Hebrew, Chinese, and German). Sufficient data exists
documenting the convergent and discriminant validity of the facets themselves,
documenting their utility as useful and nonredundant measures of personality (Piedmont,
May 3, 2001).
The clinical value of this measure has also
been documented. Information from the NEO PI-R has been shown relevant to
anticipating psychotherapeutic outcome and for understanding the Axis II
personality disorders. Costa & McCrae (1992) outline varies ways in their
manual for using the NEO in a clinical context and as a diagnostic tool that
can be used along with interview and medical laboratory tests and other
diagnostic tools for a complete and comprehensive diagnosis. However, the creators of the test, Costa
& McCrae (1992) clarify that the instrument was designed with the intention
to be administered to normal people and if any user has any mental disorder
that may interfere with his or her test performance, then he or she should not
take this test.
C.
Administration, Special
Populations/Diversity, Scoring, and Interpretation
The instrument is available both as a self-reporting
paper-pencil and also as a computerized test, as already mentioned above (Murphy,
Spies & Plake, 2006). The instrument
can be administered both individually and in groups. Test time is 35-55 minutes (Tinsley, 1994)
and scoring time depends on whether it is hand-scoring or machine-scoring (Murphy,
Spies & Plake, 2006).
According to the instrument authors Costa & McCrae (1992), the user answers
the questions on the Form S and then uses the hand-scoring answer sheet with
name, sex, date, ID number on the top and translates Form S responses such as
SD (strongly disagree), D (disagree), N (neutral), A (agree) or SA (strongly
agree) into a0-4 scale by circling the numbers.
Then, on the bottom, user rates a statement using the letter rating
scale (SD/D/N/D/SD) by circling one metacognitive statement : “I have tried to
answer all of these questions honestly and accurately”. Then, the user answers to metacognitive
questions by circling “yes” or “no”: have you responded to all of the
statements” and “have you entered your responses in the correct areas?” Then user counts and puts scores for each one
of the 30 scales, adds them up and puts domain raw scores, including N, E, O,
A, and C. Form R is used for adults and
there is not one for college-age users.
Form R has two different versions of graphs, one for men and another for
women. On the vertical axis, scores rage
into five different zones: very low, low, average, high, and very high. On the horizontal axis, the user, who is either
the user’s spouse or an expert, marks “x” for the scores and creates a graph. Then, a form called “Your NEO Summary”, the
user checks three columns with 5 boxes, each one for each of the five
domains. The left column is for
full-blown traits of the domains (e.g. “well-organized”, the middle column for
moderate (e.g. “moderately organized”) and the right one for less pronounced
traits of the domains (e.g. “not very well-organized”) (Costa & McCrae,
1992).
Experts with scoring qualifications include
a professional or at least paraprofessional (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Moreover, “the NEO PI-R is classified by the
publisher as a Level B instrument, requiring of the user at least a B.A. degree
in Psychology or Counseling and relevant training or coursework in the
interpretation of psychological tests and measurement at an accredited college
or university” (Piedmont, May 3, 2001).
In terms of score interpretation, Costa
& McCrae (1992) include in their NEO PI-R manual a long series of case
examples with Form R for both men and women, they have a chart with the 30
scales on the vertical axis and DSM III-R mental disorders on the top of the
horizontal axis and in the middle they have letters for scores: L and l for low
scores and H and h for high scores where the upper-case letters stand for
defined features/personality traits and the lower-case letters stand for
associated. For instance, those with
paranoia may have very low defined features of trust. Also, all domains and scales are descripted
in detail.
In terms of diversity and special
populations, there are differences in scores over the five personality factors
between men and women as well as between adolescent/young adult and mature
adult (over age 30). Some of these differences are theoretically appropriate,
for example adolescents are higher on Neuroticism and lower on Agreeableness
and Conscientiousness than adults. Thus, as people age they become more
emotionally stable and more accepting of traditional values. However these
differences in raw scores are removed through separate norms for adolescents
and adults, as well as for men and women.
The test is also fair with different cultures and minority as well as
for clinical purpose too, provided there is no interference of test performance
and user’s mental disorder (depending on the severity and type of mental
disorder), though the test was designed for non-clinical use. The above about the test’s fairness for age,
gender, culture, and mental disabilities have been supported in studies that
have found evidence related internal validity, as we have already mentioned
above (Piedmont, May 3, 2001). No any
ethical or legal dilemmas or related serious issues were reported and it seems
the instrument has received quite positive critiques and acceptance. The only ethical doubt would be if using this
test alone as a clinical diagnostic tool or administering it in people with
mental disorders that interfere with test performance, which has been clearly
discouraged by its creators (Costa & McCrae, 1992). It seems that although its creators did not
expect it to be a clinical tool, many clinicians use it along other methods of
assessment (Piedmont, May 3, 2001).
D.
Critique: AACE and the Buros Institute of
Mental Measurements
Found in the website of the Association of
Assessment in Counseling and Education, a critique by Piedmont (May 3, 2001) is
very positive toward NEO PI-R. Piedmont
(May 3, 2001) supports that it is a well-designed, permitting individuals to
easily understand and respond to the questions presented. He finds that the
qualities assessed by the NEO PI-R are at the center of personality psychology,
such as the five-factor model that has emerged as being an important
development in the study of individual differences. He believes that all these constructs
have been shown to be quite robust empirically and have impressive validity. He
enthusiastically reports that this instrument is the only commercially
available tool explicitly designed to capture the dimensions of the five-factor
model. Also, he supports that hand
scoring is noncomplex and computer programs for scoring are easily obtainable.
A team of test reviews from the Buros
Institute of Mental Measurements, Murphy, Spies & Plake, (2006) support
that NEO PI-R is the best available test for the assessment of adult
personality. They say that is because it
was developed and provides adequate norms for adults as opposed to college
students. The diversity of information
included in the domains and facet scales ensures its applicability. However, they support that there is work to
be done, as NEO PI-R new 12 facet scales are useful, but as much valid as the
original 18 facet scales. Thus, the
stability of the facet scales/scores has yet to be established, Murphy, Spies
& Plake (2006) argue.
Reference
Costa, P.T. Jr., Ph.D. & Robert R. McCrae (1992). NEO PI-R Manual. FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Murphy, L.L.; A.A. Spies & B.S. Plake, (2006). NEO PI-R.
Tests in Print VII. NE: The Buros
Institute of Mental Measurements.
Tinsley, H.E. (1994). NEO PI-R. Test Critiques III. TX: ProEd.
Piedmont, R.L. (May 3, 2001). Test Review: The NEO PI-R. Association of Assessment in Counseling
and Education (AACE).
