Predictive Index Behavioral Assessment: Employer Guide

The Predictive Index, usually called PI, sells a hiring and management platform built around two assessments. The PI Behavioral Assessment describes how a person prefers to work. The PI Cognitive Assessment measures how quickly they reason. This guide is for the people who buy and use the behavioral one: TA leads, recruiters and hiring managers deciding whether to rely on it, and how.

If you are a candidate, our Predictive Index test guide covers what taking both assessments is like. For the reasoning test, see the PI Cognitive Assessment guide.

What is the Predictive Index Behavioral Assessment?

It is a self-report questionnaire of work-related personality. PI says it is untimed, takes about six minutes on average, has no right or wrong answers and is not pass or fail.

The format is unusual for a personality test. There are only two questions, each followed by the same list of 86 adjectives:

1. Which words describe how others expect you to act?
2. Which words really describe you?

Candidates pick at least 6 and at most 79 adjectives for each. PI states the assessment has been in commercial use since 1955, is available in 68 languages, and can be taken on a computer, tablet or phone. It was developed and validated with adults aged 18 and over.

What are the four factors in the PI Behavioral Assessment?

The four primary factors are Dominance, Extraversion, Patience and Formality. A fifth, Objectivity, describes decision-making style.

Two points matter for anyone reading results. First, scores show differences within one person, not between people. A high Dominance score tells you Dominance is one of that person's own stronger drives. It says nothing about whether they are more dominant than another candidate. PI is explicit that a high score is not better and a low score is not worse.

Second, the pattern matters more than any single factor. PI's guidance is to look at the highest and lowest factors, treat factors near the midpoint as "situational" (more adaptable), and read wider patterns as more clearly expressed than narrow ones.

What are the Predictive Index Reference Profiles?

Reference Profiles are 17 named personas that summarise similar behavioural patterns. Every person who takes the assessment is matched to the nearest one, so each candidate's results carry a profile name.

Profile names are memorable, which is exactly why hiring teams over-use them. PI's own support article on the science behind Reference Profiles says they bring you to a person's "general neighborhood, not their exact house". It also says they are not used for fit calculations, should not be used to make hiring decisions, and that several profiles may succeed in the same role.

The practical rule for recruiters: never write "we need a Captain" in a brief or reject someone for being an Analyzer. Use the full pattern and the job target instead. If a hiring manager asks for a profile by name, point them to PI's support guidance.

How does the Predictive Index work for hiring?

PI for hiring works by comparing each candidate with a job target. The target describes the behavioural and cognitive profile the role calls for, and PI scores and ranks candidates by how closely they match it.

PI also says its hiring product connects with applicant tracking systems and other HR tools; check its integrations list for yours.

The job target is where most of the value, and most of the risk, sits. A target built by one manager from memory of the last person in the role will encode that person's style. A target agreed by the manager, a peer and someone who has done the job well is harder to bias. PI's Job Assessment supports collaborative input for that reason.

How should you read Predictive Index results?

Read the match against the job target first, then the pattern, and treat the Reference Profile name as shorthand only.

• Match to target. Shows where the candidate's drives line up with the role and where they do not. Treat a gap as a topic for the interview.
• The pattern. Look at the highest and lowest factors and how far apart they are. A candidate low on Formality in a compliance-heavy role is worth a specific question about how they handle detailed rules.
• Self versus Self-Concept. The two questions produce two views: how the person sees themselves and how they think others expect them to act. PI advises sticking with the Self results from the first assessment unless extenuating circumstances affected it.
• Cognitive score, if used. This is a separate measure with its own target. Our PI Cognitive Assessment guide explains the scale.

PI says the behavioral results should be "just one of many data points" in a hiring decision. Turn the gaps into structured interview questions and score answers on a shared interview scorecard so the assessment informs the conversation without replacing it.

Is the PI Behavioral Assessment valid for hiring?

PI reports about 400 criterion-related validity studies since 1992, and says that in 94% of them scores were significantly linked to job performance measures, with an average validity coefficient of r = 0.30 in the significant results. It holds EFPA certification, a European test-review standard.

Those are vendor-reported figures, and they describe averages across many roles. They tell you the tool can relate to performance; they do not tell you it does in your role. If you want to check that, run your own comparison of assessment results with later performance once you have enough hires. Our guide to criterion-related validity explains how. The reliability and validity page we checked does not publish adverse-impact data by age, gender or ethnicity, so ask PI for it during procurement.

How much does the Predictive Index cost?

PI does not sell per assessment. Its plans page describes one annual subscription priced by headcount, with unlimited users and unlimited assessments, and says monthly subscriptions are not offered. For the current price, check their site or request a quote.

Because the price follows headcount, PI tends to suit companies that will also use it for management and team development after the hire. A business that hires a few people a year for one purpose may pay for more than it uses. Our assessment pricing guide compares pricing models across vendors.

What are the limits of the PI Behavioral Assessment?

The main limit is that it measures preferences, not ability. A candidate can have the drives a sales role suits and still be poor at running a discovery call, or the reverse.

• It does not test the work. For skills, you still need a work sample, a structured interview or a job simulation.
• It is self-report. Candidates choose the adjectives themselves, so the result reflects how they describe themselves on the day.
• Profiles invite labelling. Teams that shortlist by profile name go against PI's own guidance and risk hiring a monoculture.
• The target can bake in bias. If the target copies one past hire, the tool will faithfully reward people like them.
• It is general. One pattern describes behaviour across all jobs; your role has specifics it cannot see.

For a wider view of where personality tools help and where they mislead, see personality testing for hiring. If you are comparing PI with similar tools, our Predictive Index alternatives page and Caliper test guide cover the main options.

Do AI hiring laws apply to behavioural assessments?

They can, when a tool scores or ranks candidates and that output feeds a hiring decision. This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice. In the EU, the AI Act's obligations for recruitment systems apply from 2 December 2027. In Colorado, SB 26-189 takes effect on 1 January 2027. Whether PI's matching counts as a covered system depends on how you use it, so ask the vendor what documentation it provides and read our AI hiring laws guide.

Where does Cohesyve fit?

Cohesyve, which publishes this guide, answers the question PI leaves open: can this person do the job? A company gives Cohesyve a job description; Cohesyve sources candidates, handles outreach, puts them through AI job simulations of the real work and returns a ranked shortlist. Some teams use a behavioural tool for working style and Cohesyve for the work itself. Plans start at $199 a month billed annually, and new accounts include 10 free candidates.

Common questions

How long does the PI Behavioral Assessment take? It is untimed. PI says the average is about six minutes.

Can a candidate fail the PI Behavioral Assessment? No. PI describes it as not pass or fail, with no right or wrong answers. Employers compare the result with a job target.

What are Predictive Index profiles? The 17 Reference Profiles, such as Captain, Analyzer or Guardian, are summaries of common behavioural patterns. PI says they should not be used to make hiring decisions.

What do Predictive Index results show an employer? A behavioural pattern across Dominance, Extraversion, Patience and Formality, plus Objectivity, a Reference Profile name, and in PI's hiring product a match against the job target with suggested interview questions.

Should we use the behavioral and cognitive assessments together? PI says the behavioral results help predict on-the-job success, especially when paired with an understanding of cognitive ability. Its hiring product scores candidates against both.

Does PI have a free version? PI's site offers individuals a free way to discover their own profile. Employer use is through the paid annual subscription; check their site.

Who completes the Job Assessment? A single user can complete it, or a team of stakeholders can take it together. PI recommends creating the job target before the job is posted.

Can we rely on PI's validity studies for our roles? They show average relationships across many roles. Track your own hires' results against performance to see whether the target predicts success in your team.