The science behind Selfcarta
Selfcarta uses simple, published scoring and tells you how much weight each result can bear. One Expedition uses public-domain research items. The others use our own questions, and we say plainly that they are not yet independently validated.
Validation status of each Expedition
| Expedition | Questions | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Core Personality | IPIP Big-Five Factor Markers (public domain) | Published research items |
| Social Energy | Selfcarta original items | Not yet independently validated |
| Connection Style | Selfcarta original items | Not yet independently validated |
| Emotional Intelligence | Selfcarta original items | Not yet independently validated |
| Core Values | Selfcarta original items | Not yet independently validated |
| Conflict Style | Selfcarta original items | Not yet independently validated |
| Work Style | Selfcarta original items | Not yet independently validated |
| Career Compass | Selfcarta original items | Not yet independently validated |
Where Core Personality comes from
Core Personality uses the 50-item IPIP Big-Five Factor Markers from the International Personality Item Pool, which is in the public domain. We lightly edited wording into the first person and Australian spelling, as the IPIP allows. Our 20-item rater version is a shortened third-person form, and that shortened form has not been separately validated.
The markers were developed by Lewis Goldberg: Goldberg, L. R. (1992), The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure, Psychological Assessment, 4, 26 to 42.
How scoring works
We reverse-score negatively worded items, take the mean per trait, and convert it to a 0 to 100 scale: (mean minus 1) divided by (points minus 1), times 100. Below 35 is the low band, 35 to 65 is the middle, and above 65 is the high band. These are our own reporting bands, not population percentiles.
Others' scores use the same method. A circle's score is the mean across raters, shown only with 3 or more raters. A gap of 15 points or more is treated as notable.
Confidence
Each full report gives a Low, Medium or High confidence rating based on how consistent your answers were, whether you gave the same answer throughout, how fast you went, and how many people rated you. It is a rule of thumb, not a statistic.
Limitations
- Results are tendencies at one point in time. Personality can change.
- Nothing here is a diagnosis, and we offer no clinical screeners.
- A few raters who know you in one setting see one side of you, and their answers are not the truth about you.
- Selfcarta must not be used for hiring, firing or promotion decisions.
Read more: are online personality tests accurate?