A foundation stone of trait psychology, and a profile written about you
The Eysenck Personality Inventory is not a modern consumer product but one of the founding instruments of trait psychology: 57 yes or no questions measuring Extraversion and Neuroticism, first published in 1964 and later expanded into the EPQ family. What it gives you is dimension scores. What Polaris gives you is a written profile, built partly on the trait tradition Eysenck helped create.
Try Polaris for £9.99Eysenck and Polaris, side by side
This is a comparison across sixty years of trait psychology. The Eysenck questionnaires helped establish the dimensional approach that modern profiling tools, Polaris included, are built on. The practical differences are about what each one gives you.
Two pioneering dimensions
Extraversion and Neuroticism, measured with 57 yes or no items, including a Lie scale to detect socially desirable answering. Developed by Hans and Sybil Eysenck as one of the first rigorous dimensional measures of personality.
A family of instruments
The EPI grew into the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, which added Psychoticism, and the revised EPQ-R, with short forms of 48 and 24 items used widely in research around the world.
A living legacy
Extraversion and Neuroticism carried directly into the Big Five, where they remain two of the most robust findings in personality science.
Scores, not prose
Your result is a small set of dimension scores. Turning them into anything useful about how you work, communicate and decide is left to you.
Built on the same tradition
Polaris is grounded in Jungian type theory, behavioural dimension theory and modern trait psychology, the field Eysenck's dimensional work helped establish, and your online profile includes a Big Five cross-reference.
A written profile
Around 3,000 words generated from your answers: what drives you, how you come across, blind spots, pressure patterns and how colleagues can work with you.
A shared language
Four colours, a percentage mix and a precise map position give you and your colleagues a shared language, which raw dimension scores do not readily provide.
One price
£9.99, one-off, at launch, with a full sample profile to read before you buy.
The details
| Eysenck (EPI and EPQ) | Polaris Profile | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A family of academic research questionnaires, first published in 1964 | A complete profile product |
| Dimensions | Extraversion and Neuroticism, later Psychoticism, plus a Lie scale | Four colours, percentage mix and exact map coordinates |
| Format | 57 to 100 yes or no items depending on version, with short forms of 48 and 24 | 25 sets of four statements, around 15 minutes |
| Result | Dimension scores | A percentage colour mix, map position and written profile |
| Report | None as standard; scores are interpreted by the researcher or reader | Around 3,000 words generated from your answers |
| Price | Licensed academic instrument used mainly in research; not sold as a consumer product | £9.99 launch price, reduced from £35.00, published openly |
| Best suited to | Research, teaching and the history of personality science | A usable, shareable profile of your working self |
An honest guide to choosing
Choose Eysenck if you
- Only need dimension scores without a report
- Are comfortable interpreting raw scores yourself
- Do not need anything written about how you work
Choose Polaris if you
- Want the trait tradition translated into a readable, usable profile
- Value a shared language you can use with colleagues
- Want a written report plus DISC, Big Five and Learning Styles cross-references in your online profile
Questions
Is the Eysenck Personality Inventory still used?
How does Eysenck's model relate to the Polaris model?
Which one is better?
More comparisons
So, what's your colour?
One questionnaire. Fifteen minutes. Around 3,000 words written from your answers.
Start the questionnaire