Assessment design
The PSI uses five kinds of evidence: responses to social video, expression recognition, spoken responses, written responses, and self-perception prompts. No single format can show the full range of a person's people skills. Using several formats shows both what the person notices and how they respond. The assessment takes about 30 minutes.
| Assessment part | Current form | What the participant does | Skills scored |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rapid social judgments | Four situations drawn from a bank of 12; about six minutes | Watch a short social moment, replay it if needed, and answer in 2–4 sentences | All seven skills |
| Cue-reading accuracy | Eight expression clips; about four minutes | Select the expression shown in each clip | Situational Radar |
| Spoken impact | Two situations drawn from a bank of five; about five minutes | Prepare for up to 30 seconds and record a voicemail of up to 60 seconds | Six skills; Situational Radar comes from the video and expression tasks |
| Social writing | Four situations drawn from a bank of nine; about eight minutes | Write a natural interpersonal message | Five skills; Situational Radar and Emotional Regulation come from other tasks |
| Self-perception calibration | 30 prompts; about six minutes | Rate 21 skill behaviors, answer seven perspective questions, and select two style descriptions | Self-perception and context only |
The first four parts produce the performance scores. Self-perception stays separate. A high or low self-rating cannot change the person's performance result.
What stays consistent
Two people may not receive the same situations. The situations come from the same banks, and PSI uses the same behavior criteria, answer keys, and formulas at baseline and reassessment.
Score construction
How each response is scored
- Open responses: A written or spoken response can show several skills. PSI scores each supported skill against its behavior criteria.
- Cue-reading choices: Each correct answer earns one point. Divide the number correct by eight and multiply by 100 to get the score for this part.
- Self-ratings: Three behavior ratings contribute to each skill. Responses use a five-point scale that maps to 20–100. Some items are reverse-keyed. The seven perspective questions and two style descriptions add context but do not add numeric points.
Which parts contribute to each performance score
| Skill | Rapid social judgments | Cue-reading accuracy | Spoken impact | Social writing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Situational Radar | Yes | Yes | — | — |
| Emotional Regulation | Yes | — | Yes | — |
| Outcome Ownership | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| Adaptive Agility | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| Strategic Clarity | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| Relational Warmth | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| Diplomatic Assertiveness | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
From evidence to the overall result
- Each assessment part produces a score for every skill it measures.
- For each skill, PSI takes the arithmetic mean of the scores from the performance parts.
- The overall PSI is the arithmetic mean of the seven performance skill scores.
- The self-perception score is the arithmetic mean of the seven self-ratings. It stays separate from the overall PSI.
- The awareness gap is self-perception minus demonstrated performance.
| Band | Range | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Developing | 0–59 | The responses show behaviors the person can build. |
| Capable | 60–79 | The responses are generally effective but still show specific ways to improve. |
| Mastery | 80–100 | The responses show clear, consistent use of the skill. |
A score of 100 means the submitted responses did not show a behavior that needs improvement. It does not promise perfect performance in every situation. PSI reports whole numbers, so a one-point difference may not be meaningful.
The seven skills
People skills work in a sequence. Input is what a person notices. Process is what they do with that information. Output is what they say or do next and how the response comes across.
| Stage | Skill | What effective responses show |
|---|---|---|
| Input | Situational Radar | Notices the context, relevant cues, and unspoken dynamics before choosing a response. |
| Process | Emotional Regulation | Stays composed under pressure without avoiding the issue. |
| Process | Outcome Ownership | Takes responsibility and proposes a clear next step to repair the problem. |
| Process | Adaptive Agility | Adjusts tone, detail, and strategy for the person, context, and stakes. |
| Output | Strategic Clarity | Gives enough context, states the position or ask, and makes the next action clear. |
| Output | Relational Warmth | Acknowledges the other person's experience in a specific, genuine way before moving to a solution. |
| Output | Diplomatic Assertiveness | States a clear need or boundary while protecting the working relationship. |
Reading the results
- Begin with the overall result, then look at the seven skill scores and the responses behind them.
- Do not treat missing evidence as a score of zero. An incomplete assessment is incomplete.
- Use the difference between self-perception and performance as a question, not a label or diagnosis.
- Choose a practice target that fits the person's goal. It may not be their lowest score.
A practitioner might say, "This result shows how you responded to these situations. Let's look for a pattern, see whether it matches your experience, and choose one behavior to practice."
When self-perception is higher than demonstrated performance, the awareness gap is positive. When performance is higher, the gap is negative. Either result can start a useful conversation about the person's experience.
Reassessment and progress
The first completed PSI is the baseline. The most recent PSI is the current result. To calculate change, subtract the baseline score from the current score. This requires two completed assessments.
On reassessment, the person responds to new situations from the same banks. PSI uses the same scoring criteria and formulas. A higher score means the later responses showed more of the scored behavior. The difference is the measured change between the two assessments.
If the score stays flat or falls, compare the two sets of responses. Check whether the practice matched the target skill before deciding what to change.
Research foundation
| PSI area | Research foundation |
|---|---|
| Situational Radar | Rapid social judgment and the interpretation of brief interpersonal cues |
| Emotional Regulation | How people monitor and change emotional responses |
| Relational Warmth | Brief interpersonal signals and first impressions |
| Diplomatic Assertiveness | Direct, relationship-preserving communication and assertiveness training |
| Development and reassessment | Leadership training, teamwork training, and workplace soft-skills training |
| Assessment method | Professional testing standards and current evidence on assessment validity |
A randomized field study by Adhvaryu, Kala, and Nyshadham found a 258% net return to the employer eight months after workplace soft-skills training ended. PSI lets organizations record a baseline, choose a development target, and compare it with a later result.
Data practices
PSI uses written responses, answer selections, task audio, and self-ratings to produce the report. Participants can replay the video situations. PSI does not record participant video. The current Privacy Policy explains collection, access, retention, and deletion.