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Mini-IPIP

Mini-IPIP
psychologysocial sciencesPublic domain

A 20-item short measure of the Big Five personality factors (four items each), drawn from the public-domain International Personality Item Pool.

Items
20
Response format
5-point Likert
Version
1.0
Subscales
5

Ready-to-cite methods sentence

Personality was measured with the Mini-IPIP (Donnellan et al., 2006), a public-domain 20-item Big Five measure whose five 4-item factors showed acceptable internal consistency (α ≈ .68–.82).

Citing this in a methods section? See the APA 7 guide — Author–date citations for psychology and the social sciences. Or compare all six citation styles.

Reliability & validation

Validation population
College students and community adults (Donnellan et al., 2006)
Cronbach's α
0.68–0.82

Subscales

ExtraversionAgreeablenessConscientiousnessNeuroticismIntellect/Imagination

Response anchors

Very inaccurate · Moderately inaccurate · Neither accurate nor inaccurate · Moderately accurate · Very accurate

Known limitations

Four items per factor trade breadth for brevity; factor reliabilities (especially neuroticism and conscientiousness) are lower than longer Big Five measures.

Original citation

Donnellan, M. B., Oswald, F. L., Baird, B. M., Lucas, R. E. (2006). The Mini-IPIP scales: Tiny-yet-effective measures of the Big Five factors of personality. Psychological Assessment, 18(2), 192-203.

https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.18.2.192

Questions researchers ask

What does the Mini-IPIP measure?

A 20-item short measure of the Big Five personality factors (four items each), drawn from the public-domain International Personality Item Pool.

How many items does the Mini-IPIP have?

The Mini-IPIP (Mini-IPIP) has 20 items across 5 subscales: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Intellect/Imagination.

Is the Mini-IPIP free to use?

The Mini-IPIP is in the public domain — free to use, reproduce and adapt without seeking permission. Cite the original source.

Is the Mini-IPIP reliable?

Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.68–0.82. See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.

Who developed the Mini-IPIP, and how do I cite it?

Donnellan, M. B., Oswald, F. L., Baird, B. M., Lucas, R. E. (2006). The Mini-IPIP scales: Tiny-yet-effective measures of the Big Five factors of personality. Psychological Assessment, 18(2), 192-203. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.18.2.192

Reference only

Folio has verified the citation and methods metadata for this scale, but does not hold confirmed item wording or scoring to import into Surveyor.

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Library entry verified July 2026. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.