Top Predictor of Job Fit
PI Behavioral Assessment
70+ years of science empowering HR leaders to turn talent strategy into results. Hire, manage, and lead with behavioral insights.
TRUSTED BY 10,000+ COMPANIES TO DELIVER OUTSTANDING RESULTS
What is The Predictive Index Behavioral Assessment?
The PI Behavioral Assessment™ is a six-minute, untimed workplace assessment that measures four core behavioral drives: dominance, extraversion, patience, and formality. It isn’t pass/fail, and there are no right or wrong answers. HR teams use the results to compare candidates against what a role needs, build stronger teams, and coach people based on how they naturally work. It’s backed by 70+ years of science and designed with the candidate experience in mind.
What the Behavioral Assessment Measures
Backed by science.
70
Years of science
37.5M+
Assessments administered
383
Validity studies completed
How does the assessment work?
In just 6 minutes, The Predictive Index Behavioral Assessment provides validated, job-relevant insights into how someone is likely to behave at work and fit into a role.
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What HR leaders are saying about the PI Behavioral Assessment
#1 Talent Assessment Software on G2
One assessment, used across the entire employee journey.
The same behavioral data that helps you hire the right people helps your managers coach better and build teams that work well together. One assessment powers behavioral insights for every moment that matters.
- Hire with confidence: define what a role needs and compare candidates against it, so hiring decisions are consistent and defensible.
- Develop managers: show managers how each person on their team is wired, so their coaching lands.
- Build stronger teams: map strengths and gaps across a team before they turn into conflict or turnover.
The 17 PI Reference Profiles
Every person who takes the PI Behavioral Assessment receives one of 17 Reference Profiles, a shorthand for how they’re naturally wired to work. Reference Profiles help HR teams and managers understand what motivates someone, how they communicate, and where they’ll do their best work.
See how the PI Behavioral Assessment reduced turnover by 20%
With PI’s behavioral and engagement tools, O’Reilly Hospitality Management transformed its talent strategy—from better hiring decisions to sharper team awareness and data-backed action plans. The result: dramatic turnover reductions, a stronger culture, and a growing workforce that feels supported, aligned, and set up to succeed.
Frequently asked questions
The PI Behavioral Assessment is an untimed, free-choice, stimulus-response tool that measures an employee’s natural behavioral drives and needs. It’s also far more than a personality test.
PI is your superpower: It lets you understand complex human behavior in six minutes or less—simply by answering two questions. Use the results to predict how individuals will behave in given situations, so you can make great hires, build winning teams, and more.
Those who take the PI Behavioral Assessment are presented with two questions, each pertaining to a single shared list of adjectives.
The first question asks assessment takers to select adjectives that describe the way in which they’re expected to behave at work. The second question, by contrast, asks them to select the adjectives they’d actually use to describe themselves.
Each adjective is associated with one of the four key factors that determine workplace behavior: dominance, extraversion, patience, and formality.
Once the survey is completed, assessment takers are assigned one of 17 Reference Profiles—a snapshot of the way they naturally think and work.
The PI Behavioral Assessment measures four key behavioral drives:
Dominance is the drive to exert influence on people or events.
Extraversion is the drive for social interaction with other people.
Patience is the drive to have consistency and stability.
Formality is the drive to conform to rules and structure.
These four drives, or “factors,” provide a powerful framework for understanding employee behavior within the workplace.
A behavioral assessment, true to its name, is a tool that measures a person’s natural behavioral tendencies.
Behavioral assessments originated during World War I as a means of measuring neurological stress in soldiers. Today, these assessments are used far more broadly to understand what makes people tick.
Within the workplace, a behavioral assessment is a powerful way to improve any organization’s odds of success. It’s proven to help hiring managers predict on-the-job success (especially when paired with an understanding of cognitive ability).
Beyond hiring, behavioral assessments can help managers build team cohesion, improve one-on-one communication, and create a culture of self-awareness.
With great data comes great responsibility. It’s incumbent upon hiring managers to select a behavioral assessment that is scientifically validated for hiring. It’s also critical that this assessment is administered fairly, and that it’s considered just one of many data points used to inform a hiring decision.
Otherwise, assessment administrators run the risk of hiring bias, as well as adverse impact.
Unlike other behavioral assessments on the market, the PI Behavioral Assessment has been certified by third-party reviewers as a valid, fair, and reliable tool to use when hiring.
Yes. The PI Behavioral Assessment is a scientifically validated, independently certified personality assessment backed by over 70 years of research and more than 400 criterion-related validity studies. It’s built to the standards of The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing and has earned certification under the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA) test review model, PI’s most rigorous third-party peer review. The PI Cognitive Assessment is EFPA-certified as well. Because EFPA certification renews every three years, PI’s Science Team continuously re-validates the assessments for reliability, fairness, and validity, so you can hire and develop people with confidence.