The Big Five Personality Project Personality Test

About Consent in Research

Imagine taking a personality test and wondering, “What happens to my answers?” This page answers that question, and more importantly why it matters. It’s designed to answer why consent and privacy matter in research, and show how your data is handled.

Quick Summary

  • ✅ No personal data is collected.
  • ✅ Your answers are anonymous and used only for research.
  • ✅ You can withdraw at any time before submission.

This research protocol has been reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Texas at Austin (IRB #2004-10-0073), confirming there are no significant risks to participants.

Why does consent matter?

Consent is the cornerstone of ethical research. Researchers are required to ensure that participants understand what they are agreeing to when they participate in a study. But this wasn’t always the case. Historical abuses like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study showed how lack of transparency could harm individuals and erode trust in research. In response, global standards like the Declaration of Helsinki (1964) established informed consent as a requirement.

Today, academic researchers follow stringent guidelines to ensure participants’ autonomy and safety. Informed consent must include clear information about the purpose of the research, the procedures involved, potential risks, and how the data will be used. Participants must also know that their involvement is voluntary and that they can withdraw at any time without penalty. In psychology, where personal data can often be sensitive, researchers are particularly careful to minimize the collection of identifiable information, and where possible, avoid gathering personal data altogether. When personal data is necessary, researchers ensure it is anonymized and participants' identities are protected.

Consent & Privacy Policy

This website is a personal academic project aimed at advancing the understanding of personality psychology (read research findings from this site). Below is a simple explanation of what data is collected and how it is used. If you have any questions or concerns about privacy, you can reach me at .

Participants can complete the Big Five Personality Test in order receive an assessment about their personality. If at any point a participant wishes to withdraw from participating in the test, they can simply close the browser window before submitting their answers, and no data will be saved or submitted. There are no foreseeable risks associated with participation, as no identifiable personal data is collected, and feedback provided is general and not of a sensitive nature.

Data Collected

  • Psychology Test Data: The answers you provide on the Big Five Test are collected anonymously. No IP addresses are recorded or stored, and no personally identifiers such as names or email addresses are collected.
  • No Tracking: There are no cookies and no third-party trackers used on this site. Basic information such as which pages are visited is logged, but without any identifiers such as IP addresses.
  • Debugging Data: Some non-identifiable metadata provided by my hosting and CDN providers, such as device type and region data, is stored to ensure data accuracy and improve the performance of this site.

User Consent

  • By submitting your answers, you are agreeing to the use of your anonymous responses for research purposes. Your data is used for research and will not be traced back to you.

How Your Data Is Used

  • The anonymous data you provide is shared with professors and research staff at accredited universities and reviewed institutions. It is used for research purposes and may be published in aggregate form in journals or presented at conferences or similar venues.
  • The data is kept indefinitely to support long-term research studies.
  • Your results will be displayed on a page with a URL that you can bookmark or share with others. This URL is based on your Big Five summary scores and is not unique to you; others with the same scores will have the same URL. If you share the URL, only your summary scores will be visible to others, with no individual answers or personal information included.

Data Processing & Legal Details

  • Data Subject Rights: Depending upon where you are located, you may have certain rights regarding your personal data under laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). However, as the data collected is fully anonymized, it cannot be linked back to any individual. Therefore, it is not possible to access, rectify, or delete specific responses.
  • Legal Basis for Data Processing: The data is collected and processed based on legitimate interest for research purposes.
  • International Data Transfers: The data collected is processed and stored in the United States. By using this site, you consent to this transfer of data.
  • Data from Minors: If you indicate that you are under 13, your data will not be saved. If you believe data from someone under 13 has been collected, feel free to contact me.

Terms of Use & Acceptable Use Policy

Why this section exists: Teachers and schools sometimes need clear written terms before they can use a site with students. This section provides that clarity. It confirms that this site may be used for personal learning and for classroom use, and it sets out a few simple rules about how the site should (and shouldn’t) be used.

Terms of Use

Acceptable Use Policy

Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the United States. If you have questions, please contact [email protected].