Personality Tests for Hiring: What the Big Five, DISC, MBTI and Hogan Actually Predict

By Sparsh Goyal, Founder at The Cognitive. Published 2026-10-04 · Last updated 2026-10-05

• Personality tests for hiring add a modest signal: overall conscientiousness predicts job performance at .19 in Sackett et al. 2022, against .42 for structured interviews.
• Use a test built for selection, such as a Big Five measure, Hogan, the Predictive Index, Caliper or the 16PF, and keep the MBTI and DISC for team development, as their publishers ask.
• Never use a clinical test before an offer, never make the score the sole criterion, and run the four-fifths check on your pass rates; this is not legal advice.

Personality tests for hiring work best as one modest signal next to a structured interview, never as the decision. The trait most tests lean on, conscientiousness, predicts job performance at a validity of .19 in the largest recent re-analysis, Sackett and colleagues' 2022 paper in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Structured interviews came out top at .42. Pick a test built for selection, such as the Hogan Personality Inventory, the Predictive Index or a Big Five measure, and keep the MBTI and DISC for team development, as their own publishers ask.

I run The Cognitive, which runs structured live AI interviews and sells no personality test. Every vendor fact below comes from the vendor's own site, read on 4 October 2026, and every research number links to its source. This is a practical guide, not legal advice.

What is an employment personality assessment?

An employment personality assessment is a questionnaire that scores a candidate on stable traits, such as how organised, sociable or calm under pressure they are, so an employer can compare those scores with what a job needs. You will also see it called a pre-employment personality test, an employer personality test or a personality exam for employment. They are the same thing, and they are one type of pre-employment assessment, alongside skills and cognitive tests.

The EEOC's own list of employment tests puts it plainly: personality tests "assess the degree to which a person has certain traits". That puts them in the same legal bucket as cognitive tests, work samples and interviews. Every rule that applies to a selection procedure applies to them too.

Most tests are self-report. The candidate rates statements or adjectives, and the vendor turns the answers into scores against a norm group. That design is cheap and quick, and it is also the reason faking is a live issue, covered further down.

It helps to separate 3 jobs a personality test can do in a company. Selection means deciding who gets hired. Development means coaching people who already work there. Team building means helping colleagues understand each other. A test that is excellent for team building can be the wrong tool for selection, and the 2 most famous tests are exactly that case.

Which personality tests are used for hiring?

8 families come up again and again when employers shop for an employee personality test. The quickest way to sort them is by one question: did the publisher design it for hiring decisions? Here is how each one answers.

Big Five (OCEAN): the research standard

The Big Five model scores 5 broad traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism (often reported as its opposite, emotional stability). It is the framework most of the validity research uses, which is why so many hiring tests are built on it.

There is no single owner. Criteria's Criteria Personality Inventory, TestGorilla's Big 5 (OCEAN) test and Traitify's image-based test are all Big Five measures. Designed for hiring: yes, in the commercial versions built and normed for selection.

HEXACO: the Big Five plus honesty

HEXACO, developed by Kibeom Lee and Michael C. Ashton, adds a sixth dimension. Its 6 are Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness (versus Anger), Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience. The Honesty-Humility scale is the reason employers ask about it.

The HEXACO-PI-R comes in 100, 60 and 200 item versions. The site says it is free for academic research and asks anyone with a non-academic use to contact the authors. Designed for hiring: it is a research instrument first, so a commercial licence is the first step.

DISC: a team tool, by its publisher's own account

DISC sorts behaviour into 4 styles: dominance, influence, steadiness and conscientiousness. It descends from psychologist William Marston's model, and many versions are sold. The best known, Everything DiSC, is direct about hiring: "Do not use Everything DiSC to screen candidates, decide promotions, or make employment decisions."

So a DISC test for hiring is a mismatch with that publisher's guidance. Use it after the hire, for communication and team work. Designed for hiring: no, for Everything DiSC.

Myers-Briggs (MBTI): not for selection

The MBTI sorts people into 16 types built from 4 pairs of preferences. Using the MBTI for hiring goes against both bodies behind it. The Myers-Briggs Company's ethical principles for practitioners say "MBTI results should not be used to select or limit anyone on the basis of type", and that people must take it voluntarily. The Myers and Briggs Foundation adds: "The MBTI assessment is not designed to be used for hiring purposes."

That settles the Myers Briggs for hiring question. If a vendor offers "16 personality types" in a hiring bundle, ask what it was validated to predict. Designed for hiring: no.

Hogan: built for selection and leadership

Hogan Assessments' Hogan Personality Inventory covers what Hogan calls "the bright side of personality": 7 primary scales and 42 subscales, completed in 15 to 20 minutes, in more than 40 languages. Hogan pitches it "from entry-level hiring to leadership development" and pairs it with separate tests for derailers and values. Designed for hiring: yes. Our Hogan assessment explainer walks through the scales and reports.

Caliper: a long profile matched to job models

The Caliper Profile, now part of Talogy, measures 22 traits plus abstract reasoning, by Caliper's own count. It is untimed, with an average completion time of 60 minutes, and compares the candidate with validated job models. Designed for hiring: yes. The Caliper assessment explainer covers the traits and what candidates see.

16PF: the 16 factors, now at Talogy

Raymond Cattell's 16PF is published today by Talogy. Its page says it "measures 16 primary personality factors and five global factors", takes 30 to 40 minutes and scores 20 to 25 job-related competencies. Accreditation is required to use it. Designed for hiring: yes, for selection and development.

Predictive Index: 6 minutes, 4 drives

The PI Behavioral Assessment scores 4 drives: Dominance, Extraversion, Patience and Formality. Candidates pick adjectives from a single list, and PI says it "only takes candidates 6 minutes to complete". The page states it is "Designed for employment decisions". Designed for hiring: yes. See our Predictive Index assessment explainer for how the 4 factors are scored.

Do personality tests predict job performance?

Yes, a little, and less than most vendor pages imply. The most cited modern source is Sackett, Zhang, Berry and Lievens, "Revisiting Meta-Analytic Estimates of Validity in Personnel Selection", Journal of Applied Psychology, 2022. They found that older reviews had overcorrected for range restriction. Their revised estimates for most methods came down by .10 to .20.

Here are their operational validity estimates from Table 3, for the methods this page discusses. A validity of 0 means no prediction and 1 means perfect prediction:

3 things in that table matter for anyone buying a test.

First, conscientiousness is the only Big Five trait with a useful general link to performance. Overall scores for the other 4 sit at .10 or below.

Second, context matters. The paper treats "personality at work vs. personality in general" as 2 different predictors. Contextualized conscientiousness, measured with work-framed items, reached .25, against .19 for general items. If you buy a test, ask whether its items are framed around work.

Third, the gap to the top is wide. A structured interview at .42 predicts more than twice as well as a general conscientiousness score. The paper also reports a near-zero Black and White score difference for overall conscientiousness (d of minus .07), against .79 for cognitive ability tests. On adverse impact, that is a real point in a conscientiousness measure's favour.

Are personality tests legal for hiring?

Yes, in the US personality tests are legal for hiring when they are job-related, are not medical exams, and do not screen out protected groups without justification. 3 rules do most of the work. I am not a lawyer, and this section is a map for a conversation with yours.

The ADA line between personality and clinical tests

The Americans with Disabilities Act bars medical examinations before a job offer. The EEOC's 1995 guidance on pre-employment medical exams draws the line. A psychological test is medical if it "would lead to identifying a mental disorder or impairment", and "if a test is designed and used to measure only things such as honesty, tastes, and habits, it is not medical."

That line has been tested in court. In Karraker v. Rent-A-Center (7th Circuit, 2005), the employer used a promotion test battery that included items from the MMPI, a clinical inventory. The court held the MMPI was a medical exam under the ADA. Keep clinical instruments out of hiring, and ask a vendor in writing whether any scale was built to detect a disorder.

The ADA also requires reasonable accommodations "including in the administration of tests". Have a route for a candidate who needs more time or a different format.

Adverse impact and the four-fifths rule

Under Title VII, a neutral test that screens out a protected group at a higher rate must be "job-related and consistent with business necessity", per the EEOC's guidance on employment tests. Even then, a challenger can win by showing a less discriminatory alternative that works as well.

The usual first check is the four-fifths rule in the Uniform Guidelines, 29 CFR 1607.4(D). A selection rate for any group "less than four-fifths (4/5) (or eighty percent) of the rate for the group with the highest rate" is generally treated as evidence of adverse impact. A worked example: if 50% of one group passes the test and 35% of another does, 35 divided by 50 is 70%, below the 80% line. Run that maths on your own pass rates every quarter.

The MBTI and DISC problem is also a legal one

Validation is the employer's defence. The EEOC says "employers should ensure that employment tests and other selection procedures are properly validated" for the jobs they are used on. A test whose own publisher says it is not for selection is a hard test to defend if anyone challenges a decision made with it.

How to use a pre-employment personality test well

A pre employment personality test earns its place when it answers a question your job analysis raised. These are the steps I would follow, in this order.

1. Start with a job analysis. Write down the 4 to 6 things that separate strong from weak performers in the role, from people who do the job and the manager. Only then decide whether a trait, such as conscientiousness for a compliance role, belongs on the list.
2. Pick a test built for selection. Hogan, Caliper, the Predictive Index, 16PF and the Big Five tests from hiring vendors all say they are. The MBTI and Everything DiSC say they are not.
3. Ask for the technical manual. You want the validity evidence for jobs like yours, the norm group, and adverse impact data by group. A vendor that cannot share these is asking you to carry their risk.
4. Never make it the sole criterion. Use the score to shape interview questions or as one weighted input, never as an automatic cut. The EEOC asks employers to look for "an equally effective alternative" when a procedure screens out a protected group, which is much easier when the test is one input of several.
5. Pair it with a structured interview. At .42, the structured interview is the strongest single method in the Sackett table. Ask every candidate for the role against the same scoring rubric, and use the test result to decide which behaviours to probe.
6. Audit your pass rates. Run the four-fifths check on every stage that uses the test, and keep the records.

If you are comparing assessment types more broadly, skills tests, work samples and cognitive tests included, our talent assessment tools comparison covers 8 tools by the signal each one proves.

Can candidates fake a personality test?

Yes. The best evidence is a meta-analysis by Birkeland and colleagues, published in the International Journal of Selection and Assessment in 2006. Across 33 studies, job applicants scored higher than non-applicants on conscientiousness (d = .45) and emotional stability (d = .44). The gaps were small for extraversion (.11) and openness (.13).

The implication is awkward. The 2 traits applicants inflate most are the ones employers care about most. The authors also found that applicants for some jobs, such as sales, shifted their answers on the traits seen as most relevant to that job. Search "how to pass a personality test for a job" and you will find plenty of coaching, so assume your strongest applicants know the desirable answers.

Vendors answer this with forced-choice formats, where every option sounds equally good, and with consistency checks. Ask which one your vendor uses. The practical defence is the same as for validity: treat the score as a hypothesis and test it in an interview, where a candidate has to describe what they actually did.

What candidates experience

Length is the biggest candidate experience lever, and the range is wide. The Predictive Index says 6 minutes. Traitify says 2 to 5 minutes for its image-based test, where candidates answer "Me" or "Not Me" to a picture with a caption. The Hogan Personality Inventory takes 15 to 20 minutes, the 16PF 30 to 40 and the Caliper Profile about 60 on average.

3 habits make any test feel fairer to the person taking it. Tell candidates what the test measures and how it will be used. Put it after a first conversation, so nobody spends an hour on a test before speaking to a human. Offer a short feedback report where the vendor supports one; Traitify, for example, says candidates may receive a report by email or download.

Personality assessment tools for hiring compared

These are the 7 vendors buyers most often shortlist for personality assessment for hiring. I filled in every cell from each vendor's own site on 4 October 2026. Pricing is the model only, never a figure:

2 notes on the table. TestGorilla lists DISC and 16 Personality Types beside its Big Five test, so choose the Big Five one for selection and keep the others for team work. Our TestGorilla alternatives guide compares other test libraries. Paradox announced it had acquired Traitify on 23 August 2021, as Recruiting News Network reported, and Paradox's own site now calls itself "a Workday company". Our Paradox review covers the wider product.

What is the best personality test for hiring?

The best personality test for hiring is a Big Five or Big Five-style measure built and normed for selection, with work-framed items and a technical manual you can read. That description fits several vendors above. What separates them in practice is fit with your process.

• High-volume hourly hiring: a short test, such as Traitify's 2 to 5 minute image test or the 6 minute Predictive Index, because a long test loses applicants. Our list of hourly hiring software covers the rest of that stack.
• Leadership and senior hires: Hogan, where the derailer and values tests add a second lens, or the 16PF if you want its competency reports.
• Sales roles: Criteria's Sales Achievement Predictor or Caliper's job models, then probe the claims hard, since sales applicants inflate the traits they think matter.
• Small teams buying self-serve: TestGorilla, which publishes its plans and has a free plan, using its Big 5 (OCEAN) test.

Whichever you choose, the test answers "what is this person likely to be like?". It does not answer "has this person done the work?". That second question needs an interview.

Where does a structured live AI interview fit?

A structured interview is the method the Sackett table ranks first, and it is also the place where a personality score gets checked. If a test says a candidate is highly organised, the interview asks how they ran their last project and listens for the detail. Our explainer on what a structured interview is covers the method.

The hard part has always been running structured interviews consistently at volume. That is the job The Cognitive's AI interviewer does. It is a live, two-way AI video interview of 10 or 20 minutes, in 9 languages. Candidates book their own slot without an account, and the invitation tells them the interview is run by AI.

The rubric is fixed for the role and the questions adapt live to each answer, so 2 candidates are scored on the same criteria even when the follow-ups differ. The report gives a 1 to 5 score per criterion, a weighted score out of 100, a suggested verdict, overall written feedback, a transcript and the recording. The AI also picks up to 5 resume claims to probe and marks each one verified, refuted or unclear with evidence from the interview.

Nothing is rejected automatically; a person makes every decision. The Cognitive does not run personality tests, and it has no published bias audit. It fits next to whichever test you choose.

This 5-minute recording shows a live AI interview for a go-to-market role. The AI asks the candidate about an outbound email campaign, then follows up on reply rates and on how leads were qualified, so you can watch the questions adapt to each answer while the rubric stays fixed.

AI Interview starts at $99/month, on a monthly plan you can cancel anytime. If you also need to find candidates, The Cognitive sources them across ~900M public profiles, with AI Sourcing from $49/month.

Check the traits a test reports in a live interview A live, two-way AI video interview with a rubric fixed for the role and questions that adapt to every answer. Start free

Common mistakes with personality tests for hiring

• Using a team tool for selection. The MBTI and Everything DiSC publishers both say no. Their guidance is easy to find, including for a plaintiff's lawyer.
• Hiring for a "type". No single profile fits a job, and a cut score on one trait screens out people who would have done well. Our page on the personality hire covers the opposite error, hiring on charm.
• Testing before talking. A 60 minute test before any human contact loses good applicants, especially passive ones you sourced yourself.
• Skipping the pass-rate check. The four-fifths maths takes 5 minutes per stage. Not doing it leaves you blind to adverse impact until someone else points it out.
• Treating the score as a fact. Applicants inflate conscientiousness by close to half a standard deviation, per Birkeland. Verify in the interview.

To start, take one open role, write the 4 to 6 criteria from a job analysis, and decide whether a trait belongs among them. If it does, choose one selection-grade test from the table. Then run every finalist through the same structured interview rubric and compare what the test predicted with what the interview found.

Run your next structured interview with AI Set the rubric once, invite candidates in bulk and read a scored report with the transcript and recording. Start free

Sources

• Sackett, P. R., Zhang, C., Berry, C. M. and Lievens, F., Revisiting Meta-Analytic Estimates of Validity in Personnel Selection: Addressing Systematic Overcorrection for Restriction of Range, Journal of Applied Psychology, 107(11), 2040 to 2068, 2022, Table 3, read 4 October 2026. Summary: SIOP TIP.
• Birkeland, S. A., Manson, T. M., Kisamore, J. L., Brannick, M. T. and Smith, M. A., A Meta-analytic Investigation of Job Applicant Faking on Personality Measures, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 14(4), 2006, read 4 October 2026.
• The Myers-Briggs Company, Ethical Principles for MBTI Practitioners, read 4 October 2026.
• The Myers and Briggs Foundation, Ethical Use of the MBTI Assessment, read 4 October 2026.
• Everything DiSC, Everything DiSC vs Predictive Index, read 4 October 2026.
• Lee, K. and Ashton, M. C., The HEXACO Personality Inventory and HEXACO-PI-R, read 4 October 2026.
• Hogan Assessments, Hogan Personality Inventory and Talent acquisition, read 4 October 2026.
• Caliper, Caliper Profile and Selection, read 4 October 2026.
• Talogy, 16pf Personality Assessment, read 4 October 2026.
• The Predictive Index, Behavioral Assessment and Pricing, read 4 October 2026.
• Traitify, homepage and Ethical Assessments, read 4 October 2026. Recruiting News Network, Paradox Acquires Traitify, 23 August 2021, read 4 October 2026. Paradox, homepage, read 4 October 2026.
• TestGorilla, Personality and culture tests and Pricing, read 4 October 2026.
• Criteria, Personality assessments and Plans and pricing, read 4 October 2026.
• US EEOC, Enforcement Guidance: Preemployment Disability-Related Questions and Medical Examinations, 10 October 1995, read 4 October 2026.
• US EEOC, Employment Tests and Selection Procedures, 1 December 2007, read 4 October 2026.
• Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, 29 CFR 1607.4(D), read 4 October 2026.
• Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, ADA and Medical Examinations (on Karraker v. Rent-A-Center, 411 F.3d 831, 7th Cir. 2005), read 4 October 2026.

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