Six Factor Personality Questionnaire (SFPQ)

The Six Factor Personality Questionnaire (SFPQ) is a 108-item evaluation test intended to determine the characteristics of an individual’s personality. Developed in the early 2000s and based on a prior Five-Factor Model, the SFPQ evaluates agreeableness, extraversion, independence, industriousness, methodicalness, and openness to experience. It also examines various facets of each factor. The test takes about twenty minutes and yields percentile scores for each factor and facet. The SFPQ is used by counselors, psychologists, and personnel managers.

Overview

The idea of formally testing an individual’s personality traits can be traced back to the early twentieth century. Military examiners during World War I (1914–1918) used testing to evaluate the psychological strength of soldiers to identify those most likely to tolerate the stress of trench combat. One of the earliest and most influential personality tests was the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which used evaluations of a person’s perception, judgment, attitudes, and approaches to society to rank people among sixteen personality types.

New developments in psychological study led to the Five-Factor Model, often called the “Big Five.” This evaluation examines experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Many supporters of the Five-Factor Model found it a valuable aid in real-world tasks, such as determining compatibility when selecting the best candidates for a job. This model also inspired many later tests, notably the Six Factor Personality Questionnaire.

The SFPQ appeared in the early twenty-first century and was derived from the work of personality theorists, including Douglas Jackson, Sampo Paunonen, and Paul Tremblay. This test is heavily patterned on the Big Five system but divides the “conscientiousness” category into two categories: industriousness and methodicalness. Proponents believe this alteration makes the test more accurate and reliable.

The SFPQ includes 108 items that describe various beliefs, attitudes, or actions. The developers of the test drew these items from many sources, choosing items that offered insight into diverse personal characteristics while resisting biases (such as the tendency of some test-takers to favor answers that cast them in a positive light). Test-takers are asked to read each item and respond by choosing one of five rating values: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and strongly disagree. The test generally takes about twenty minutes.

When the test is complete, the results are calculated and reported as percentile scores for each of the six main factors of the evaluation. These factors are agreeableness (a person’s ability to get along with others), extraversion (the extent to which a person thrives on social activity), independence (a person’s ability to function individually), industriousness (a person’s work ethic), methodicalness (the care with which a person approaches tasks), and openness to experience (a person’s willingness to try unfamiliar ideas and actions).

To further refine the results, each of these six factors is divided into three facet scales, or aspects of the main factor. The facet scales for agreeableness are abasement, even-temperedness, and good-naturedness. The facets for extroversion are affiliation, dominance, and exhibition. The facets for independence are autonomy, individualism, and self-reliance. The facets for industriousness are achievement, seriousness, and endurance. The facets for methodicalness are cognitive structure, deliberateness, and order. Finally, the facets for openness to experience are change, understanding, and breadth of interests. Each facet of each factor will receive a percentile score upon completion and grading of the test.

Bibliography

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