Scientific references
Every KnowYourself assessment is adapted from a published psychological framework. Below are the original publications and key validation studies behind each one, with links to the source. Our items are original adaptations written for clarity — they are not reproductions of the copyrighted instruments themselves, and scores are indicative rather than clinical.
Five-Factor Model (OCEAN)
Big Five Personality
- Goldberg, L. R. (1993). The structure of phenotypic personality traits. American Psychologist, 48(1), 26–34. View publication
- Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) professional manual. View publication
- Goldberg, L. R., et al. (2006). The International Personality Item Pool (IPIP). Journal of Research in Personality, 40(1), 84–96. View publication
Jungian type theory / MBTI-style dichotomies
16 Personality Types
- Jung, C. G. (1921/1971). Psychological Types. Collected Works, Vol. 6. Princeton University Press. View publication
- Myers, I. B., McCaulley, M. H., Quenk, N. L., & Hammer, A. L. (1998). MBTI Manual (3rd ed.). Consulting Psychologists Press. View publication
- Furnham, A. (1996). The big five versus the big four: The relationship between the MBTI and NEO-PI. Personality and Individual Differences, 21(2), 303–307. View publication
Nine-type motivational model
Enneagram
- Sutton, A., Allinson, C., & Williams, H. (2013). Personality type and work-related outcomes: An exploratory application of the Enneagram model. European Management Journal, 31(3), 234–249. View publication
- Newgent, R. A., et al. (2004). The Riso–Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator: Estimates of reliability and validity. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 36(4), 226–237. View publication
Marston's DISC model
DISC Behavioural Style
- Marston, W. M. (1928). Emotions of Normal People. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. View publication
- Jones, C. S., & Hartley, N. T. (2013). Comparing correlations between four-quadrant and five-factor personality assessments. American Journal of Business Education, 6(4), 459–470. View publication
Adult attachment theory (anxiety / avoidance dimensions)
Attachment Style
- Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and Loss, Vol. 1: Attachment. Basic Books. View publication
- Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(3), 511–524. View publication
- Brennan, K. A., Clark, C. L., & Shaver, P. R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult attachment (ECR). View publication
- Fraley, R. C., Waller, N. G., & Brennan, K. A. (2000). An item response theory analysis of self-report measures of adult attachment (ECR-R). JPSP, 78(2), 350–365. View publication
Ability and trait EI models
Emotional Intelligence
- Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9(3), 185–211. View publication
- Schutte, N. S., et al. (1998). Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 25(2), 167–177. View publication
- Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2001). Trait emotional intelligence: Psychometric investigation. European Journal of Personality, 15(6), 425–448. View publication
Global self-worth (Rosenberg tradition)
Self-Esteem
- Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the Adolescent Self-Image. Princeton University Press. View publication
- Robins, R. W., Hendin, H. M., & Trzesniewski, K. H. (2001). Measuring global self-esteem. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(2), 151–161. View publication
Perceived stress (transactional model)
Stress Level
- Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396. View publication
- Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. Springer. View publication
GAD-7 style generalised anxiety screening
Anxiety Screening
- Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B. W., & Löwe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(10), 1092–1097. View publication
- Plummer, F., et al. (2016). Screening for anxiety disorders with the GAD-7 and GAD-2: a systematic review. General Hospital Psychiatry, 39, 24–31. View publication
PHQ-9 style depressive symptom screening
Mood / Depression Screening
- Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. W. (2001). The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606–613. View publication
- Levis, B., Benedetti, A., & Thombs, B. D. (2019). Accuracy of the PHQ-9 for screening to detect major depression: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ, 365, l1476. View publication
Two-dimensional model of political attitudes (economic × social)
Political Orientation
- Jost, J. T., Glaser, J., Kruglanski, A. W., & Sulloway, F. J. (2003). Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 129(3), 339–375. View publication
- Haidt, J. (2012). The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Pantheon. View publication
- Everett, J. A. C. (2013). The 12 Item Social and Economic Conservatism Scale (SECS). PLoS ONE, 8(12), e82131. View publication
- Feldman, S., & Johnston, C. (2014). Understanding the determinants of political ideology: Dimensions of predispositions and political sophistication. American Journal of Political Science, 58(2), 264–278. View publication
Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP) & Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM)
Psychopathy Traits
- Levenson, M. R., Kiehl, K. A., & Fitzpatrick, C. M. (1995). Assessing psychopathic attributes in a noninstitutionalized population. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(1), 151–158. View publication
- Patrick, C. J., Fowles, D. C., & Krueger, R. F. (2009). Triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy: Developmental origins of disinhibition, boldness, and meanness. Development and Psychopathology, 21(3), 913–938. View publication
- Patrick, C. J. (2010). Operationalizing the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy: Preliminary description of brief scales for assessment of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. Unpublished manual, Florida State University. View publication
- Hare, R. D. (2003). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R), 2nd ed. Multi-Health Systems. View publication
Screening assessments (anxiety, mood, stress) are educational self-assessment tools based on the instruments cited above. They do not provide a diagnosis and are not a substitute for professional care.