How we build our tests

This page explains how that works, from the first question you answer to the badge on the test card, so you know exactly what you are looking at when your result arrives. If you would like to see it in action first, take the Big Five personality test.

We do not invent personality theories. Each of our core tests starts from a model that researchers have used and refined for years, and then we build our own questionnaire around it.

• The Big Five and the introvert or extrovert test are built on the five-factor model, the framework most widely used in personality research to describe how people differ.
• The attachment style quiz is built on attachment research, which maps close relationships along two lines: anxiety and avoidance.
• The career interest test is built on Holland's interest model, the six RIASEC interests used across careers guidance.
• The personal values test is built on Schwartz's ten basic values, arranged around the values circle.
• The emotional intelligence test uses the four-area model of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.
• The 16-type test and the Enneagram are built on two of the most popular type systems, which people everywhere use to talk about personality.

The model gives each test its shape. The questions, wording and scoring are ours.

Every question is written to be quick to answer and hard to misread. We use everyday situations instead of abstract statements, because "I check the train times twice before I leave" tells you more than "I like to be prepared".

Each question belongs to one part of the model, such as one Big Five trait or one Holland interest. On many tests, some questions are reverse-keyed: agreeing with them points the other way. "I leave things until the last minute" counts against conscientiousness, not towards it. Mixing the two keeps the result honest, because it stops anyone drifting to the top of every scale by agreeing with everything.

The scoring depends on the test, but the principle is the same: every answer counts, and the result comes straight from your answers.

• Trait tests such as the Big Five average your answers for each trait, flip the reverse-keyed ones, and turn each average into a percentile.
• Type tests such as the 16 types score each preference on a spectrum from 0 to 100. If you sit close to the line, we show you both possible types rather than pretending it was clear-cut.
• The Enneagram scores all nine types, then gives you the highest, its stronger neighbour as your wing, and your runner-up. Close calls get a short tiebreak.
• The values test centres your scores on your own average, so you always get a real ranking even if everything feels important.
• The career test turns your top three interests into a Holland code, then matches your full pattern against real occupations.

Wherever a test gives you a percentile, it is comparing you with other people. The 75th percentile means you scored higher than three in every four people.

That is what makes a percentile useful. A raw score only says how you answered. A percentile says how you differ, which is the part worth knowing. For more, read what your percentile score means.

Every test carries one of four badges, so you can see at a glance what kind of test it is.

• Research framework. Built on a model from personality research, such as the five-factor model, attachment research, Holland's interests or Schwartz's values. These are the tests to start with if you want to understand yourself in depth.
• Popular framework. Built on a widely loved type system, such as the 16 types or the Enneagram. These give you a vivid, memorable portrait and a shared language with friends.
• Computed. Calculated from fixed inputs rather than a questionnaire. Your birth chart, for example, is worked out from the real positions of the planets at the date, time and place of your birth.
• Know yourself. Quizzes about taste, lifestyle and the way you live: your aesthetic, the kind of place that suits you, your holiday style and the seasonal favourites. Quick, revealing and made to share.

Your result page shows the full picture: your scores, your profile, the parts that are strongest and the parts with room to grow. The share card is much shorter. It carries your result name, your creature and one public line, nothing more.

When you compare with someone, neither of you sees the other's individual answers. You see the two results side by side. You can delete any result from its own page, and the stored answers and score go with it.

Your result is yours the moment you finish. There is no sign-up and no paywall in front of it. We think the best way to show a test is good is to let you read what it says about you and decide for yourself.

Ready to try one? Take the Big Five personality test, or browse every test on the tests page.