Agreeableness
Agreeableness describes how much you care about getting along with others: how trusting, warm, cooperative and considerate you tend to be. It is one of the five broad traits in the Big Five model of personality. It is a continuum, not a type, and both high and low scores have strengths.
What high and low scores look like
People who score high on agreeableness tend to be kind, trusting and helpful. They avoid conflict where they can, look for compromise, and readily put others' needs alongside their own.
People who score low on agreeableness tend to be more skeptical, direct and competitive. They are comfortable disagreeing, less swayed by others' feelings when making decisions, and more willing to push hard for what they think is right. That can make them effective negotiators and critics, though others may experience them as blunt.
The six facets
The longer version of the test (the IPIP-NEO, built from the public-domain International Personality Item Pool) splits agreeableness into six narrower facets:
- Trust: assuming that others mean well.
- Morality: being straightforward and sincere rather than manipulative.
- Altruism: actively helping others.
- Cooperation: preferring compromise to confrontation.
- Modesty: playing down your own achievements.
- Sympathy: feeling concern and compassion for others.
How it is measured
Agreeableness is measured with short statements such as "I sympathize with others' feelings" that you rate for how well they describe you. Your answers are averaged and compared with a large reference group to give a percentile. A score reflects how you see yourself now. It is not a measure of how good a person you are.
What research says
Agreeableness is closely tied to helping. Across several studies, including experiments, people higher in agreeableness had stronger prosocial motives and helped others across a range of situations and people in need.[1]
It also shapes how people handle conflict. Using both imagined conflicts and two-week diaries of real ones, researchers found that, among the five traits, agreeableness was the most closely linked to how people respond during disagreements, including how often they use destructive tactics.[2]
There can be costs. Across four studies, more agreeable people tended to earn less, and the gap was larger for men than for women.[3] At school, a large review found that agreeableness was linked to better academic performance, alongside conscientiousness and openness.[4]
On average, agreeableness changes less than other traits across adulthood. Combining long-term studies, researchers found that it changed mainly in old age.[5]
These are average patterns across many people. They describe tendencies, not what any one person will do.
Living with your agreeableness score
If you score high, your warmth and cooperation help relationships and teams; it can help to practise saying no and stating your own needs clearly. If you score low, your directness and independence are useful in decisions and negotiations, and small signs of appreciation can make it easier for others to hear your critique. Either way, the score is a prompt for reflection, not a verdict.
The free test takes about three minutes and shows your personality archetype, based on all five traits. A full report with your scores on each trait is available after the test.