The free research standard for measuring extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness.
GeneralIndividual DifferencesFree for research
At a glance
Construct measured
Big Five personality traits
Developed by
John & Srivastava (BFI-44); Soto & John (BFI-2) (1999)
Original publication
John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 102–138). Guilford Press.
Neuroticism / Negative emotionality (8 items; 12 in BFI-2)
Openness / Open-mindedness (10 items; 12 in BFI-2)
BFI-2 adds three facets per domain (15 facets total)
Reliability (commonly reported)
Domain alphas are commonly reported around .75–.90; BFI-2 facets commonly in the .70s–.80s.
Validity evidence
Decades of evidence for the five-factor structure, convergence with the NEO inventories and trait adjective markers, self–peer agreement, and criterion validity across life outcomes. The BFI-2 improves facet-level fidelity and controls acquiescence with balanced keying.
Populations & contexts
Students, community adults and employees worldwide; the default free Big Five measure in social science.
Origin, translations & adaptations
United States. Official translations of BFI and BFI-2 exist in dozens of languages.
Licensing & permission
Free for non-commercial research (cite the source) The BFI and BFI-2 are available free for non-commercial research from the authors (Colby College / Berkeley personality lab pages). Note the contrast: the NEO-PI-R and NEO-FFI are commercial instruments licensed by PAR, and may not be reproduced. The public-domain IPIP pools (including Mini-IPIP) are an unrestricted alternative.
How to cite (APA 7)
John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 102–138). Guilford Press. [BFI-2: Soto, C. J., & John, O. P. (2017). The next Big Five Inventory (BFI-2). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(1), 117–143. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000096]
Short versions & notable variants
BFI-10 (Rammstedt & John, 2007) — two items per domain