The Personality and Preference Inventory (PAPI) is a

personality test A personality test is a method of assessing human personality constructs. Most personality assessment instruments (despite being loosely referred to as "personality tests") are in fact introspective (i.e., subjective) self-report questionnaire ( ...

which is used to determine a person's personality traits in the workplace. The questionnaire was designed to reveal a person's behaviours and preferences that may affect their suitability for a various vocations or specific vacant positions. The test was originally designed by Max Kostick, Professor of Industrial Psychology at

Boston State College Boston State College was a public university located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. History Boston State College's roots began with the Girls' High School, which was founded in 1852. In 1872, the Boston Normal School separated from Gi ...

, in the early 1960s. Since then, two versions of the test have been developed: the PAPI-I (

Ipsative In psychology, ipsative questionnaires (; from Latin: ''ipse'', 'of the self') are those where the sum of scale scores from each respondent adds to a constant value. Sometimes called a forced-choice scale, this measure contrasts Likert-type scales ...

) for individuals and the PAPI-N (normative) for employers. Although the tests are widely used, there is some scholarly debate over their accuracy and usefulness in comparing potential job candidates.

References

Personality tests {{psych-stub