What is the HEXACO-PI-R?

What is the HEXACO-PI-R?

The HEXACO-PI-R is the self-report questionnaire built to score the six HEXACO factors: Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience. The name is short for Personality Inventory-Revised, and the six letters name the factors it measures rather than a type of person it sorts you into. Kibeom Lee and Michael Ashton built the original inventory, the HEXACO-PI, out of 24 facet-level scales, four beneath each of the six factors.

In the original validation sample, over 400 respondents, every scale showed high internal consistency, the factor structure matched the hypothesised six factors, and the scales showed adequate convergent validity against outside measures (Lee & Ashton, 2004). That is the psychometric case for the instrument: the six factors it was built to measure actually separated out when people answered it, rather than blurring into fewer, broader clusters.

Lee and Ashton have since revised the inventory into the PI-R and published it in shorter and longer forms, from a brief version for a quick survey to a longer one for research that wants every facet, alongside an observer-report form worded for a partner or colleague to complete about someone else. The HEXACO model page covers what each of the six factors describes; this page is about the instrument built to measure them.

What model does it measure?

The inventory exists because Ashton and Lee argue that six factors, not five, is a viable way to organise personality, consistent with a six-dimensional lexical structure that keeps recurring across languages (Ashton & Lee, 2007). Four of the six factors it scores, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience, are recognisably the familiar Big Five dimensions under new letters. The other two, Honesty-Humility and Emotionality, are where the model earns its extra initial: Honesty-Humility has no dimension of its own in the Big Five, and Five-Factor instruments capture only part of what an Honesty-Humility scale measures (Ashton et al., 2014). Emotionality keeps fearfulness and sentimentality but, unlike Neuroticism, leaves out anger and irritability. The fuller theoretical case is on the HEXACO model page.

What is the evidence for six factors rather than five?

The case rests on the lexical method: collect a language's trait-descriptive adjectives, have large samples rate themselves or someone they know on them, and see which words cluster together. When that work was repeated from scratch in seven languages, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Korean and Polish, a six-factor solution appeared in each one, recovering substantially the same six factors the inventory was built to measure (Ashton et al., 2004).

That is a different kind of evidence from a single validation study. It says the six-factor structure is not an accident of English or of one questionnaire's wording, since independent researchers working in independent languages, without translating an existing test, kept landing on the same six clusters. The HEXACO-PI-R was written to put numbers on the factors that evidence recovered.

How does its Honesty-Humility scale differ from Big Five Agreeableness?

A review of the research on the HEXACO Honesty-Humility, Agreeableness and Emotionality scales sets out the theoretical case for keeping Honesty-Humility distinct from Agreeableness, traces its origin in lexical studies, and reports that Five-Factor Model instruments capture only part of the variance a Honesty-Humility scale measures (Ashton et al., 2014). The inventory's Honesty-Humility items ask whether a person would decline an unearned advantage or want the visible signs of status. Its Agreeableness items ask something else: how patiently a person tolerates being wronged and avoids retaliating.

That split matters because the two are only moderately related. A person can be scrupulously fair and quick to anger, or genuinely easygoing and comfortable cutting a corner when nobody is watching. A Big Five Agreeableness score blends both qualities into one number; the HEXACO-PI-R keeps them apart, which is the main reason its authors give for measuring Honesty-Humility on its own (Ashton et al., 2014). The Honesty-Humility page covers what the factor predicts.

Where can I take the HEXACO-PI-R?

At the time of writing, the HEXACO-PI-R can be taken on its authors' own site, and a handful of other sites host versions of it too. The terms on which the inventory may be used are set by its authors, so check those if you plan to do more than take it yourself. A result from any of those sites is a self-report snapshot, not a professional evaluation, and the same cautions apply as to any personality questionnaire: mood, self-presentation and the day you take it all move a score a little.

How accurate are personality tests covers that in more depth, and the best personality tests page compares several options, including the HEXACO-PI-R, by their evidence rather than their marketing.

How does Wellington measure the same six factors?

Wellington is a science-based personality assessment from Therabot Labs LLC. It measures personality as continuous traits, built on the Big Five and HEXACO models, and writes the results back as a personal report rather than a type.

Wellington does not administer the HEXACO-PI-R itself. It uses its own statements, built to score the same six-factor structure. The free Snapshot asks 60 questions and scores 6 dimensions: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Openness to Experience and Honesty-Humility. That is the Big Five with Honesty-Humility added, keeping Emotional Stability in its Big Five form rather than adopting HEXACO Emotionality, so a higher score always means more of the quality named.

Every trait is reported as a percentile against the reference sample. The three bands (Quiet below the 30th percentile, Balanced to the 70th, High above) and the Portrait names exist to make the result easier to talk about; the percentile is the measurement, and it is always shown alongside. Those norms are provisional while the norming sample is completed.

The first ten questions are answered before anything is asked of you; after question ten you sign in with an email address so your answers are saved and your results can be shown. There is no card. The Wellington Membership, $4.99 a month, adds the facets beneath each dimension and all 24 VIA character strengths, 90 traits in all, then continues toward 255 traits across eight domains over 104 weekly modules. Wellington is a wellness tool for reflection, not a medical or psychological diagnosis, and it does not replace care from a qualified professional. It is not designed for hiring, and you can export or delete your data at any time.

Questions people ask

What does HEXACO-PI-R stand for?

HEXACO names the six factors the inventory measures: Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience. PI-R stands for Personality Inventory-Revised, marking it as an updated version of the original HEXACO-PI that Kibeom Lee and Michael Ashton first validated.

Is there a short form of the HEXACO-PI-R?

Yes. Lee and Ashton have published the inventory in shorter and longer forms, alongside an observer-report version worded for a friend or colleague to complete instead of you. Exact item counts vary by version and by revision, so check the specific form you are using rather than assuming a number.

Where can I take the HEXACO-PI-R?

At the time of writing, it can be taken on its authors' own site, with a few other sites hosting versions too. The terms for using the inventory are set by its authors, so check those there. Wellington's free Snapshot scores the same six-factor structure with its own questions rather than the HEXACO-PI-R itself.

Is the HEXACO-PI-R the same as a Big Five test?

Close, but not the same. Four of its six factors, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience, are recognisably the Big Five dimensions. The other two are rotated: Emotionality is close to Neuroticism but leaves out anger, and Honesty-Humility is an addition rather than a dimension the Big Five measures on its own (Ashton & Lee, 2007).

Does Wellington use the HEXACO-PI-R?

No. Wellington uses its own questions, written to score the same six-factor structure that the HEXACO-PI-R measures: the Big Five plus Honesty-Humility. Every score is a percentile against a reference sample, reported alongside one of three bands, for reflection rather than as a professional evaluation.