Big Five Inventory-2
BFI-2Permission: Free for research use. Free for non-commercial academic research, with no licence fee. Cite the original publication.
A 60-item hierarchical measure of the Big Five personality domains, each with three facets, updating the original Big Five Inventory.
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Reliability & validation
Subscales
Response anchors
Disagree strongly · Disagree a little · Neutral; no opinion · Agree a little · Agree strongly
Known limitations
Longer than brief alternatives; the 4-item facet scales are less reliable than domain scores, and self-report is subject to social-desirability and reference-group effects.
Original citation
Soto, C. J., & John, O. P. (2017). The next Big Five Inventory (BFI-2): Developing and assessing a hierarchical model with 15 facets to enhance bandwidth, fidelity, and predictive power. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(1), 117-143.
https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000096Questions researchers ask
What does the BFI-2 measure?
A 60-item hierarchical measure of the Big Five personality domains, each with three facets, updating the original Big Five Inventory.
How many items does the BFI-2 have?
The Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2) has 60 items across 5 subscales: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Negative Emotionality, Open-Mindedness.
Is the BFI-2 free to use?
The BFI-2 is free to use for non-commercial academic research. You don't need to pay a license fee, but you should always cite the original publication.
Is the BFI-2 reliable?
Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.83–0.9. See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.
Who developed the BFI-2, and how do I cite it?
Soto, C. J., & John, O. P. (2017). The next Big Five Inventory (BFI-2): Developing and assessing a hierarchical model with 15 facets to enhance bandwidth, fidelity, and predictive power. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(1), 117-143. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000096
Related scales
Library entry verified September 2026. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.