Updated 06/03/07
This page contains separate sections of links for information about testing and assessment, online tests, and test publishers.
These free tests are range from self-diagnostic psychiatric screening tests to academic research projects gathering data online. Other tests are enticements to pay for further services (books or web site memberships) and some are labeled "for entertainment only." Listed below are the free online tests I consider the best (or, in a few cases, most revealing of common problems in test construction). Each includes feedback about how to interpret results. No personal data is recorded by these sites unless otherwise indicated.
Interesting. Starts out asking about sugar intake and moves on to signs of depression of alcohol abuse, ends up giving you a score which indicates your addictive potential.
By C. George Boeree. 30-item test measures a person's sense of meaninglessness and estrangement from work and society.
This is a good example of a test which is very "transparent"...the items are so very straightforward that one could probably ask a person "Do computers make you anxious?" and get an equally valid result.
A test used in much research by Spielberger, an ex-president of the APA, and others. Like the previous few, it is transparent, but it is aimed at assessing a person's current state, not a lasting trait, therefore ostensibly it is more useful for before-and-after comparisons in therapy research.
"Experiences in Close Relationships" questionnaire diagnoses your attachment style. After completing the test you get a good discussion of its implications with links for finding out more. They collect some personal data like age, marital status, ethnicity and nationality, so this data might be used in research, but they do not ask for names or other detailed identifying data.
"Defensive pessimists lower their expectations to help prepare themselves for the worst. Then they mentally play through all the bad things that might happen. Though it sounds as if it might be depressing, defensive pessimism actually helps anxious people focus away from their emotions so that they can plan and act effectively." Quick checklist verifies your self-diagnosis.
"This scale is not designed to make a diagnosis of depression or take the place of a professional diagnosis." But it does tell you the extent to which you report symptoms typical of depression. Like the other screening tests on this page, it is transparent.
From the New York University Medical Center Department of Psychiatry. Gives a binary decision: you are/are not showing symptoms of depression.
A quick, confidential, totally transparent test for symptoms of depression.
Interesting. Asks about how you relate to others and your organization, then gives you feedback about your virtues or how you might have to adjust your behavior in leadership situations. Compares your results to group averages.
This is a test for irrational hatred of homosexuals. It has been used in research and is accompanied by a discussion of the issue.
This 15 minute multiple-choice test can only be taken once from a particular computer, requires personal information, and uses a password to give your results.
This is based on classic work, but I am including it here mostly as a negative example. The test requires forced choice decisions when the truth might be "in between." (For example, are bad grades deserved, or are tests unfair? The most accurate answer would be, "It depends on the situation.") Most free online tests have not been subjected to validity testing which can justify test design by showing the results match well with independent ways of measuring the same thing. Absent such evidence, a better way to capture people's true opinions is to use Likert scales (multi-point rating scales, e.g. asking for ratings on a 5- or 7-point scale) because one can take the middle position as a compromise between opposites.
This is a transparent test for the manic phase of the bipolar disorder.
"...Assesses your moral attitudes, particularly as they relate to your religious and cultural background. By “moral” we mean those aspects of thought and behavior that relate to commonly accepted notions of right and wrong, and to selfish and unselfish actions." Appears aimed at determining whether conventional religiosity correlates with moral positions as defined by the test-maker.
Another transparent screening test, this one for OCD...basically a list of symptoms.
From the New York University Medical Center Department of Psychiatry. This test is too short for what it tries to do. Personality disorders are the most unreliable diagnostic categories in DSM-IV, meaning that experts often disagree in their diagnoses. You can look in the relevant section of DSM-IV and see what personality disorder each question on this test is designed to reveal, but also how much they left out and how easy it would have been to add extra questions asking about more symptoms of each disorder.
Get a personality profile using the "big five" traits found to be most discriminative of personality differences. By William Revelle. Well done, efficient, with good feedback. Most items drawn from IPIP but some "experimental" ones added.
This site offers both the original (40-60 min) and shortened (15-25 min) versions of a test aimed at profiling your personality using the big five personality traits. Adapted from Goldberg's IPIP by John A. Johnson, PhD. Compare the results to Revelle's test for your own validity check.
Based on Jungian personality typology; requires registration, e-mail address for password to take test
This one is shorter than the other two "big five" tests above, with some overlap in questions, but it is not a total duplicate which makes it good as a validity check. I found total agreement between these three tests on four of the dimensions, total disagreement and contradiction on one dimension, which is actually useful to know when evaluating the results.
A test based on the 1940ish theory by Sheldon relating body type to three personality types: viscerotonia, somatotonia, and cerebrotonia. By C. George Boeree. This is just for fun; Sheldon's theory is no longer taken seriously.
Several personality tests, all based on the International Personality Item Pool (http://ipip.ori.org/). This one requires e-mail registration and a password.
A "modified version of the Jenkins Activity Survey" from 1971. Find out whether you would be rated a Type A or Type B personality, or somewhere in between. Alas, they do not tell you the original type A/B construct fell apart when later research failed to replicate the original findings linking Type A to heart attacks. (Cynicism proved more predictive than time-urgency or activity level.) Therefore this test, while fun, illustrates the dangers of reification...treating a psychological construct as concrete and real, just because you can construct a test to measure it, when the "thing" being measured may not even exist as a meaningful psychological trait.
"Gain insight into your personality the fun way! A variety of short personality tests that attempt to analyze your personality by interpreting your reactions to various events."
Find your "ShyQ" or how shy you are. Results are provided immediately and compared with aggregated data from web participants.
These sites have large collections of online tests and questionnaires.
These sites sell tests and online testing services to clinicians, businesses, and researchers. Some also offer free online tests.
"IQ Tests & Personality Tests - quick, fun, accurate!"
For identifying behavior problems. "The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) is the centerpiece of a family of psychological assessment instruments developed by Dr. Thomas M. Achenbach and used by professionals in the mental health and education fields"
"A new personality test that rivals Myers Briggs and is being used in Fortune 500 Companies nationwide"
"IPAT is the publisher of the 16PF Questionnaire (one of the most respected and well-documented assessments of normal adult personality) as well as other personality and ability tests. The website includes information on all products, interpretive report services, reference materials, workshops, research projects, international directory of distributors, research assistance for professors and graduate students, research contest for graduate students, and free testing materials and manuals for professors conducting graduate-level assessment or measurement courses."
Excerpts from a self-help cognitive behavior therapy program
Fun-sounding tests like "Are you a freak" and the "twin" test (find out the similarity between your personality and somebody else's). The author says, "The tests are derived from scientific psychological research and the feedback provided to participants is based on statistical analyses of large amounts of data, unlike many other 'tests' on the web."
"An innovative leader in psychological test publishing"
From HealthyPlace.com. Lots of online tests "for entertainment and possibly educational use only"
"...The pioneer and leader in online testing, has developed hundreds of psychological assessments and innovative applications for individual and business purposes" This site is owned by Queendom.com (next link) and the web pages are very similar.
"Queendom offers the largest online battery of professionally developed and validated psychological assessments. A pioneer and leader in online testing, Queendom has served more than 250 million tests in nine different languages."
"A site devoted to Commercially published standardized tests for all manner of purposes. Tests from over one hundred commercial test publishers are listed and described."
"We are the global market leader in computerized psychological diagnostics."
"Village Publishing publishes psychological tests and materials used by psychologists in child custody evaluations. The Village Publishing web site is an "on-line catalog" that fully lists and describes the tests and materials, as well as facilitates orders."
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