MILITARY MEDICINE, 164,12:885, 1999
                 Revised NEO PersonalityInventory Profiles of Maleand Female
                                                                      U.S. Air Force Pilots
            Guarantor: Maj Joseph D.Callister, USAF BSC
            Contributors: Maj Joseph D. Callister, USAF BSC*; Maj Raymond E. King, USAF BSCt; Capt Paul D. Retzlaff,
            USAF BSC (Ret.);; Col Royden W. Marsh,USAF MC (Ret.)§
            The study of pilot personality characteristics has a long and                        uation ofpilots. Despite the controversy overthe relationship
            controversial history. Personality characteristics seem to be                        between "normal" personality characteristicsand pilotperfor-
            fairly poor predictors of training outcome; however,valid per-                       mance,there is littleargumentthat there are "abnormal" per-                          Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/164/12/885/4832082 by guest on 19 September 2022
            sonalityassessmentis essentialto clinical psychological eval-                        sonalitycharacteristicsthat are undesirable. Highly anxious,
            uations. Therefore, the personality characteristics of pilots                        hostile, orimpulsive people probably shouldnotcontrolaircraft.
            must be studied to ensure valid clinical assessment. This                            In the U.S. Air Force, personality disordersare not medically
            paper describes normative personality characteristics of U.S.
            Air Force pilots based on the Revised NEO Personality Inven-                         disqualifying; however, administrative separation can occur
            tory profiles of 1,301 U.S.Air Force studentpilots. Compared                         whenpersonality characteristicsarejudgedtosignificantly im-
            with maleadultnorms, malestudentpilots had higherlevelsof                            pair the performance ofmilitary duties (Air Force instruction
            extraversionand lowerlevelsofagreeableness. Comparedwith                             48-123). Also, U.S. Air Force flight surgeons are required to
            female adultnorms, female studentpilots had higherlevels of                          judgeaircrewSUitabilityforflying dutyduring selection physical
            extraversion and openness and lower levels ofagreeableness.                          examinations throughaprocessknown as theAdaptability Rat-
            Descriptive statistics and percentile tables for the fivedomain                      tng for MilitaIy Aeronautics (ARMA). The ARMA typically in-
            scores and 30 facet scores are provided for clinical use, and a
            case vignette is providedas an example ofthe clinical utility of                     volves assessmentofmotivation, insight,socialpoise, and past
            these U.S.AirForce norms.                                                            accomplishments." Identified problems in these areas warrant
                                                                                                 further psychological evaluation. Verdone et al." describe a
                                           Introduction                                          number of limitations in the ARMA as a screeningtool and
                 sychologists firstmeasuredpilotpersonality characteristics                      reportthat flight surgeonswould likebettertraining, guidance,
            PduringWorldWarI,andevenatthattimetherewerestarkly                                   and moreobjective methodsofevaluating potentialpilots.
            divergent ideas about which personality characteristics were                            Currently, U.S. Air Force psychologists oftenuse standard
            most important. For example, Rippon and Manuel' described                            personality measures such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Per-
            the ideal pilot as high-spirited and happy-go-lucky, whereas                         sonalityInventory" and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Invento-
            Dockeray and Isaacs? described the ideal pilot as quiet and                          rylO when evaluating pilots. Thesetests havebeen normedon
            methodical. The controversy over pilot personality continues                         the generalpopulation but not on military pilots, and forthis
            today, driven primarilybystrongevidence that personalitymea-                         reasonexperienced aviation psychologists use pilot-based nor-
            sures are poorpredictors ofcompletion ofinitialtrainlng." On                         mative data whenever possible.":'! However, appropriate pilot
            the otherhand, personality measuresmayhavemoreutilityin                              normsaredifficult to establishbecausepsychological tests are
            predicting performance beyond initialtrainingcompletion. For                         rarelygiven to largerepresentative samplesofpilots.
            example, Houston" foundthat personality measures werethe                                Manyauthorshavesuggestedthat pilotsaremoreextroverted
            bestpredictors oftheratingsgiven tofirstofficers bycaptainsin                        and independentthan the generalpopulation. However, large
            commercial airlines. Similarly, personality characteristics ap-                      studies usingreliable, valid, and relevanttests are rare.Thisis
            pear to significantly affect training in crewresource manage-                        particularly truewithregard tofemale pilots, withtheexception of
            merit." Moreover, personality measures taken during initial                          studiesbyNovello andYoussef" andmore recently King etal."
            trainingappear to predictretentioncharacteristicsin U.S. Air                            Thereareseveral distincttypesofpersonalityinventories that
            Force pilots.6                                                                       differ according to the purposeforwhichtheyweredeveloped.
               Beyond the selection, training, and retentionissues, the as-                      Forexample, tests such as the MinnesotaMultiphastc Person-
            sessmentofpersonality is an essentialpart ofthe clinical eval-                       alityInventory and theMillon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory were
                                                                                                 designed to identify psychopathology, whereasmeasures such
              *Air Force Institute ofTechnology/CIMI, Ohio StateUniversity, 164 West 19th        as the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R),15the Per-
            Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210.                                                          sonalityResearch Form," and the Eysenck Personality Inven-
              tHeadquarters, AirForce Safety Center/SEPR, Kirtland AirForce Base, NM 87117.      tory" weredesigned to describe normalpersonality character-
              *Psychology Department, University ofNorthern Colorado, Greeley, CO 80639.         istics. Both types of test overlap to some degree, but the
              §U.S. AirForce School ofAerospace Medicine/AFCN, Brooks AirForce Base, TX          distinction is important because testing for psychopathology
            78235.                                                                               has beenshowntobeoflimited valuein the assessmentofthe
              Portions ofthispaper were presented at theNinth International Symposium on
            Aviation Psychology, April 1997.                                                     high-functioning pilot population." On the other hand, mea-
              The views expressed inthisarticle arethose oftheauthors anddonotreflect the        sures ofnormalpersonality characteristicshavebeenshownto
            official policy orposition oftheU.S. AirForce, theDepartment ofDefense, ortheU.S.    beusefulinavariety ofsettingsandpopulations.19In 1994, the
            Government.                                                                          U.S. Air Force began using the NEO-PI-R to assess normal
              This manuscript was received for review inSeptember 1998. The revised manu-
            script wasaccepted for publication inFebruary 1999.                                  personality characteristicsofnewpilotsbecause ofthis test's
                                                                                            885                              Military Medicine, Vol. 164, December 1999
          886                                                                                        NEO-PI-R Profiles ofU.S. Air Force Pilots
          widespread useinbothresearchandclinical applications.20The                                       TABLE I
          purposeofthis paper is to describe these data and illustrate          TOTALSAMPLE NEO-PI-RDESCRIfYfIVE STATISTICS (N= 1,301)
          theirpotential clinical utility.
                                                                                         Scale               Mean        SD        Percentile
                                     Methods                                     Neuroticism                 71.92      19.92         42
                                                                                   Anxiety                   13.01       4.72         46
            Asampleof1,301 U.S. AirForce studentpilots participated in            AngryHostility             12.44       4.85         54
          this study. This sampleincluded 1,198maleand 103female                   Depression                11.00       4.79         48
          student pilots. Themean agewas 22.6years (SD = 2.9). Ap-                 Self-Consciousness        13.11       4.57         45
          proximately 56% ofthesample were college graduateswho had                Impulsiveness             15.25       4.69         48
          received orwould receive acommission throughOfficerTraining              Vulnerability              7.09       3.54         21a
          School, the Reserve Officer Training Corps, the Air National           Extraversion               126.31      18.15         83a
          Guard, ortheAirForce Reserve. Theotherswere in theirthird                Warmth                    22.85       4.17         50          Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/164/12/885/4832082 by guest on 19 September 2022
                                                                                   Gregariousness            18.37       5.30         62a
          yearat theAirForce Academy.                                             Assertiveness              19.75       4.48         84a
            TheNEO-PI-R is a test designed to measurenormal person-                Activity                  20.84       3.82         80a
          alitycharacteristics. It consistsof240statementstowhich the              Excitement-Seeking        22.87       3.83         92a
          evaluee responds on a scale from 1 to 5 which represents                 Positive Emotions         21.61       4.54         70a
          "strongly disagree," "disagree," "neutral," "agree," or "strongly      Openness                   115.18      18.87         60a
          agree." TheNEO-PI-R provides five domain scores(Neuroticism,             Fantasy                   19.20       5.18         72a
          Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientious-               Aesthetics                 17.24       5.98         48
          ness) andsixfacetscoresforeachdomain. Reliabilities forfacet             Feelings                  21.09       4.49         62a
          scores range from 0.56 to 0.92, and reliabilities for domain            Actions                    16.70       4.02         61a
          scoresrangefrom 0.86to0.95.Thevalidity oftheNEO-PI-Rhas                  Ideas                     21.82       5.27         74a
                                                                                   Values                    19.09       4.71         38a
          beenevaluated extensively andis summarized inthetest man-              Agreeableness              113.32      18.49         20a
          ual.15 Forthis study,the computer-administered version ofthe            Trust                      20.09       4.88         35a
          NEO-PI-Rwasused.Thisversion produces astandardized setof                 Straightforwardness       18.81       4.72         30a
          instructionsand scoresthe test automatically. Participant re-           Altruism                   23.32       3.86         48
          sponseswere scored usingadultsame-sex norms.                             Compliance                16.19       4.42         26a
            Before entering the enhancedflight screening programs at               Modesty                   16.89       4.85         33a
          Hondo, Texas, and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado                Tender-Mindedness          17.99       4.10         25a
          Springs, Colorado, studentpilots participate inbaseline psycho-        Conscientiousness          127.96      19.23         58
          logical testing. Testsofintelligence, cognitive abilities, and per-      Competence                23.95       3.50         76a
          sonality characteristics aregiven toeachstudent.Studentsare              Order                     18.76       4.69         54
                                                                                   Dutifulness               23.64       3.80         61a
          required to take the intelligence and cognitive abilities tests to      Achievement Striving       22.49       4.34         77a
          continue throughthe screening process." Testsofpersonality               Self-Discipline           21.69       4.57         52
          characteristics, including the Armstrong Laboratory Aviation             Deliberation              17.40       4.28         47
          Personality Survey'" and the NEO-PI-R,23 are optional. Approx-      a Percentile 10%above or below general population norms.
          imately 81%ofstudents,however, agreed totaketheseperson-
          alitytests. During thetestingprocess, studentpilots were asked
          to consenttoallow theirtest data tobeusedforresearch, and           Agreeableness domain scoreandfive ofsixfacet scoreswere low
          approximately 96% agreed toallow theirdata tobeused.                (20th to35thpercentiles), theAltruism facet wasintheaverage
                                                                              range(48th percentile); likewise, although the Conscientious-
                                      Results                                 ness domain score was average (58th percentile), the facet
                                                                              scoresforCompetence, Dutifulness, andAchievement Striving
            Table I shows the means,standard deviations, and percen-          were high(76th, 61st,and 77thpercentiles, respectively). Also,
          tilesforthe totalsample ofstudent pilots. Thepercentiles were       whereas the Neuroticism domain score and five of six facet
          derived by applying the mean scalescoreto the NEO manual            scoreswere average, theVulnerability facet scorewasvery low
          percentile conversion tables.Assuch,thepercentiles represent        (21stpercentile). Finally, the Openness domain score and four
          the meanstudentpilotscoresinthecontext ofgeneral popula-            ofsixOpenness facet scoreswere high (60th to 72ndpercen-
          tionnorms. Forexample, themeanExtraversion scoreof126.31            tiles), but the Aesthetics facet scorewasaverage (48th percen-
          corresponds with the 83rd percentile of general population          tile) and theValues facet scorewaslow (38th percentile).
          norms.                                                                Table IIshows the means,standard deviations, and percen-
            Asagroup, studentpilots scored highonExtraversion (83rd           tilesfor the sample of1,198malestudent pilots. TheExtraver-
          percentile) and Openness (60th percentile) and scored low on        siondomain scorewashigh(85th percentile} andtheAgreeable-
         Agreeableness (20th percentile). Neuroticism and Conscien-           nessdomain scorewaslow (28th percentile). Facetscoreswere
          tiousnessscoreswere average (42nd and58thpercentiles). Most         very similar to the facet scoresdescribed above forthe entire
          facet scorescorresponded withtheirdomain score; forexample,         sample. Thisresult is not unexpected becausemen makeup
          five ofsixExtraversion facetscoreswere elevated (62nd to92nd        suchalarge portion ofthe entiresample.
          percentiles). However, therewere some facet scoresthat didnot         Table III shows the means,standard deviations, and percen-
          correspond to their domain score as expected. Although the          tiles for the sample of 103female student pilots. Aswith the
          Military Medicine, Vol. 164, December 1999
           NEO-PI-R Profiles of U.S. Air Force Pilots                                                                                                  887
                                          TABLE II                                                                 TABLEm
                   MALE NEO-PI-R DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS (N = 1,198)                         FEMALE NEO-PI-R DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS (N = 103)
                       Scale                Mean          SD         Percentile                  Scale                Mean         SD         Percentile
              Neuroticism                    71.00       19.60          43              Neuroticism                   82.52       23.33          51
                Anxiety                      12.75        4.69          53                Anxiety                     16.00        5.05          57
                AngryHostility               12.39        4.84          55                AngryHostility              12.98        5.03          60a
                Depression                   10.82        4.70          53                Depression                  13.00        5.75          58
                Self-Consciousness           12.99        4.54          51                Self-Consciousness          14.42        4.95          39a
                Impulsiveness                15.11        4.65          51                Impulsiveness               16.94        5.17          62a
                Vulnerability                 6.91        3.53          27a               Vulnerability                9.16        3.69          37a
              Extraversion                  126.13       18.01          85a             Extraversion                 128.35       19.79          81a
                Warmth                       22.77        4.13          55                Warmth                      23.70        4.64          59          Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/164/12/885/4832082 by guest on 19 September 2022
                Gregariousness               18.32        5.25          67a               Gregariousness              18.95        5.82          68a
                Assertiveness                19.80        4.47          81a              Assertiveness                19.18        4.65          80a
                Activity                     20.81        3.85          82a              Activity                     21.12        3.40          78a
                Excitement-Seeking           22.92        3.82          91a               Excitement-Seeking          22.29        3.92          91a
                Positive Emotions            21.48        4.54          66a               Positive Emotions           23.09        4.57          73a
              Openness                      114.39       18.96          59              Openness                     124.32       17.81          79a
                Fantasy                      19.15        5.17          69a               Fantasy                     19.85        5.29          81a
                Aesthetics                   17.00        6.04          54               Aesthetics                   20.08        5.26          63a
                Feelings                     20.93        4.51          67a               Feelings                    22.97        4.19          74a
                Actions                      16.52        4.02          63a              Actions                      18.73        3.98          75a
                Ideas                        21.88        5.33          68a               Ideas                       21.19        4.46          74a
                Values                       18.89        4.79          35a              Values                       21.47        3.54          62a
              Agreeableness                112.89        18.51          28a            Agreeableness                 118.39       18.36          23a
                Trust                        20.05        4.83          39a              Trust                        20.59        5.34          40
                Straightforwardness          18.71        4.71          38a               Straightforwardness         19.97        4.80          31a
                Altruism                     23.26        3.87          57               Altruism                     24.00        3.80          57
                Compliance                   16.19        4.42          30a               Compliance                  16.25        4.32          21a
                Modesty                      16.78        4.88          43                Modesty                     18.28        4.52          35a
                Tender-Mindedness            17.88        4.15          33a              Tender-Mindedness            19.30        3.44          31a
              Conscientiousness            128.24        19.15          57              Conscientiousness            124.70       20.17          52
                Competence                   24.06        3.48          72a               Competence                  22.68        3.79          68a
                Order                        18.76        4.67          54                Order                       18.82        4.95          53
                Dutifulness                  23.72        3.74          61a               Dutifulness                 22.72        4.44          53
                Achievement Striving         22.52        4.37          84a              Achievement Striving         22.12        4.05          77a
                Self-Discipline             21.71         4.56          51               Self-Discipline              21.38        4.69          42
                Deliberation                 17.44        4.30          44               Deliberation                 16.95        4.08          50
           a Percentile 100/0 above or belowgeneral population norms.                              0
                                                                                     a Percentile 10/0 above or belowgeneral population norms.
           malestudent pilots, the Extraversion domain score was high
           (81stpercentile) and the Agreeableness domain scorewaslow                 thoughnotparticularlywarminterpersonally, heismuchmore
           (23rd percentile). Unlike themalestudentpilots, for females the           assertive and physically active, and he seeks excitement and
           Openness domain scorewas high compared with that ofthe                    stimulation. Theaverage pilot appearstobealtruistic, butatthe
           general female population (79th percentile). Also, the Self-Con-          same time he is highly competitive, skeptical, and tough-
           sciousness and Modesty facet scoreswere low compared with                 minded. Hedescribes himself as achievement oriented, highly
           scoresin the general population (39th and 35th percentiles),              competent, responsible, and capable ofhandling highlevels of
           which is nottrue formale student pilots.                                  stress.
             Table IV shows the percentile levels of specific NEO-PI-R                 Theaverage female student pilot shows very similar charac-
           scores for male student pilots. Table V shows the percentile             teristics. She is outgoing, active, and assertive. She is highly
           levels for female studentpilots. Bothtableslistactualpercentile          competitive, tough-minded, and achievement oriented. How-
           levels, not percentiles derived from meansand standard devia-            ever, she is also more opento newexperiences, such as new
           tions.These tablescan be used to makespecific comparisons                ideas, emotions, actions, andcreative thought. Suchaflndtng is
           with the current samples. For example, a male student pilot              not surprising considering that flying a military aircraft is
           witha Conscientiousness score of 158would be at the 95th                 countertotraditional female roles. Theaverage female student
           percentile ofthecurrentmalesample, andafemale studentpilot               pilotalsoseemsto be willing to experience emotions, but she
           withaNeuroticism score of40would beat the5thpercentile of                mayfeel less self-conscious and less vulnerable than women
           the currentfemale sample.                                                from thegeneral population.
                                       Discussion                                      Itis importanttoremember that theseareonly average char-
                                                                                    acteristics. Individual characteristics vary widely. To under-
             Thecurrentdatasuggest that theaverage malestudentpilot                 stand how an individual's scorescompare, such as for clinical
           is more extroverted than men in the general population. Al-              evaluations, the percentile tablesin this studyare key. Inclin-
                                                                                                            Military Medicine, Vol. 164,December 1999
           888                                                                                                  NEO-PI-R Profiles of U.S. Air Force Pilots
                                                                                TABLEIV
                                                             MALE PILOTPERCENTILE LEVELS (N= 1,198)
                                                   1%             50/0             15%              50%              85%              95%               99O,tU
              Neuroticism                          26              40               51               69                91              104              120
                Anxiety                             2               5                7                12               17               20               23
                Angry Hostility                     2               5                7                11               17               21               24
                Depression                          1               3                6                10               15               19               24
                Self-Consciousness                  2               5                8                12               17               20               24
                Impulsiveness                       4               7               10                14               20               22               25
                Vulnerability                       0               1                3                 6               10               13               16
              Extraversion                         85              95              107              126               144              156              168
                Warmth                             11              15               18               23                26               29               31       Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/164/12/885/4832082 by guest on 19 September 2022
                Gregariousness                      4               9               12                18               23               26               29
                Assertiveness                       9              12               15                19               24               26               29
                Activity                           10              14               16               20                24               27               29
                Excitement-Seeking                 13              16               19               22                27               29               31
                Positive Emotions                   9              13               16               21                26               28               31
              Openness                             68              84               95              114               134              146              158
                Fantasy                             7              10               13                19               24               27               30
                Aesthetics                          3               7               10                17               23               26               30
                Feelings                            9              13               16               21                25               28               30
                Actions                             5              10               12                16               20               23               25
                Ideas                               6              12               16               22                27               30               31
                Values                              5               9               13                19               23               26               28
              Agreeableness                        64              79               95              113               131              141              153
                Trust                               6              10               15               20                24               26               30
                Straightforwardness                 7              10               13                19               23               26               28
                Altruism                           12              16               19               23                27               29               31
                Compliance                          5               8               11                16               20               23               26
                Modesty                             5               8               11                17               21               24               27
                Tender-Mindedness                   7              10               13                18               22               24               27
              Conscientiousness                    74              95              109              128               147              158              168
                Competence                         14              18               20               24                27               29               31
                Order                               6              10               14                18               23               26               28
                Dutifulness                        13              17               20               23                27               29               31
                AchievementStriving                 9              14               18               22                26               28               30
                Self-Discipline                     9              13               17               22                26               28               31
                Deliberation                        6              10               12                17               21               24               27
           icalcases,premorbid data,such as dataavailable from screen-                 pretrainingNEO-PI-Rdatashowed that hehadanaverage Neu-
           ingprograms likethe enhancedflight screening program, are                   roticism domain score, withaverage Anxiety, Depression, and
           extremely useful." however, data from large data sets such as              Vulnerability facet scores. These datadidnotsupportapremor-
           this studymaybeusedtoput an individual's NEO-PI-R scores                    bidanxiety ormood disorder. Furthermore, he had an average
           intothecontextofscoresfrom U.S. Air Force studentpilots. The               Achievement Striving facet scorecompared withmen his age.
           percentile tables give specific percentiles for specific scores.            However, this "average" scorewasvery low compared withthat
           Scores that fall above the95thorbelowthe5thpercentile canbe                 ofotherstudent pilots. Thisleftopenthe possibility ofinade-
          viewed as significantly different from thisU.S. Air Force sample.            quate motivation. The student's primary instructor pilot (IP)
             Theutilityofthesedataisillustratedbythecaseofastudent                     stated that he believed the student wascapable ofcompleting
           pilotwho was referred to an Air Force flying trainingwing's                 trainingbut seemed to "quickly getbehindunder stressfulsit-
           aviation clinical psychologist foran evaluation toruleoutman-               uations." TheIPalsodescribed the studentas a "nice guy," but
           ifestations ofapprehension, which isstudentpilotequtvalent of               hewentontosaythatthestudentdidnotseemtofitinwellwith
           fearofflying in a trainedpilot. Inotherwords, itisa nonphobic               othersin the flight. Lack ofcapability was not likely given the
           fear associated with flying that significantly impairs a flyer's            IP'sappraisaland the student's Full-Scale IQscoreof 125as
           ability to perform effectively. This student was described as               measured by a computerized version ofthe Multidimensional
           performing below average in general, and particularly sowhen               Aptitude Battery, which is above average compared withother
           under pressure in the cockpit. In cases such as this one, it is             student pilots." Aclinical interview revealed a self-description
          important to distinguish between lack of ability and lack of                 that was not consistentwithflying-related anxiety symptoms,
           motivation and toidentify the presence ofa medically disquali-              such as increased physiological arousal or specific avoidance
          fying condition, such as an anxiety disorder. In this case, the              behavior. However, the student had beenconsidering alterna-
           student had taken the NEO-PI-R duringthe medical screening                  tive careeroptions. After two briefvisitsover 2days, thestudent
           phaseoftheenhancedflight screening program. Areview ofhis                   elected to self-initiate elimination from training and subse-
           Military Medicine, Vol. 164, December 1999