Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Skills Inventory.
BESSI
Social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) SKILLS, framed as learnable capacities distinct from personality traits. 5 skill domains (Self-Management, Social Engagement, Cooperation, Emotional Resilience, Innovation) over 32 skill facets, of which 4 are interstitial (half weight on two domains) and 3 are compound (Adaptability, Capacity for Independence, Self-Reflection Skill; in no domain score).
- Provisionally grouped under
- Length and format
- 192 (32 facet scales of 6 items); observer-report form identical in content. 5-pt skill-inventory rating (1 Not at all well to 5 Extremely well); no reverse-keyed items (self-report questionnaire)
- Language versions
- Official self-report forms in German (BESSI-G), Italian (BESSI-I), Spanish (BESSI-Sp) and Chinese, for all four form lengths; further translations underway. No BCMS adaptation as of 2026-08-01.
- Licence
- open with attribution
Licence classification is a research judgement by the catalogue’s authors, not legal advice, and it can be out of date. Confirm terms with the copyright holder or publisher before using an instrument, especially for commercial use.
- Reference
- Soto, C. J., Napolitano, C. M., Sewell, M. N., Yoon, H. J., & Roberts, B. W. (2022). An integrative framework for conceptualizing and assessing social, emotional, and behavioral skills: The BESSI. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 123(1), 192-222. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000401
Measures you can take in personality: broadband models
These are measures in the same field, which you can take here. This entry does not describe them.
- Short Big Five Test (10 Items)PER-BF10
- Big Five Test with Facets (120 Items)PER-BF120
- Comprehensive Big Five Test (300 Items)PER-BF300
- Big Five Personality TestPER-BF50
- HEXACO Facets Test (100 Items)PER-HEX100
- Quick HEXACO Test (24 Items)PER-HEX24
- HEXACO Personality TestPER-HEX60
- Personal Integrity TestSKL-PI
More in Personality: broadband models
- BFI-10 - Big Five Inventory-10
10 items. open with attribution.
- HEXACO-PI-R - HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised
200 (full) or 100 (half-length); plus a 25th Altruism facet. open with attribution.
- HEXACO-100
100 items. open with attribution.
- HEXACO-60
60 (10 per factor). open with attribution.
- IPIP-50 / IPIP-BFFM - IPIP Big-Five Factor Markers (50-item)
50 (10 per domain). public-domain / open.
- IPIP-NEO (300-item)
300 (10 per facet). public-domain / open.
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