Measuring personality traits with ultra-short scales: A study of the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) in a Spanish sample

Widespread interest in short scales for measuring personality traits has generated a need for systematic studies that validate them in different languages and cultures. This paper examines the psychometric properties of the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) applied to a sample of 1181 Spanish adults. The TIPI was administered jointly with the NEO-PI-R and measures of Well-Being and Risk-Taking. Subsamples of 198 and 142 participants were asked to provide data for test–retest reliability (6 weeks after) and self–other agreement calculations, respectively. Overall, the TIPI exhibited reasonably acceptable psychometric properties for measuring the Big Five in terms of test–retest reliability, self–other agreement, factor structure, convergence with the NEO-PI-R and correlations with relevant criteria. As expected, low internal consistency was the greatest limitation of the TIPI scales. Agreeableness displayed shortcomings in all psychometric tests; future studies to refine the TIPI should more fully examine the difficulty of capturing this dimension. Otherwise, the TIPI seems to be a promising instrument for situations where brevity is a priority.

► The Spanish version of the TIPI exhibited reasonably good test–retest reliability and self–other agreement.
► As expected, internal consistency was low.
► Overall, convergent–discriminant validity with the NEO-PI-R and correlations with external criteria were adequate.
► Agreeableness was the scale with the greatest shortcomings in psychometric terms.
► On the whole, the Spanish version of the TIPI appears to hold promise for use under conditions requiring maximum brevity.