How the read works

Twenty-two factors, seven families, one fingerprint.

22 PF is a relational personality instrument. It maps how a person shows up to other people — the patterns of trust they build, the desire they project, the way they hold a conversation, the way they hold a relationship across time.

Origin

The framework descends from the Brand Trust Research practice at Trust Research Advisory, where the 22 behaviours were originally derived from longitudinal research on how trust and attractiveness work between brands and people. The same architecture, adapted with care, reads the relational behaviour of human beings.

Architecture

• 97 attributes — the smallest unit of observable behaviour the framework tracks.
• 22 behaviours — clusters of attributes that hold together as a single relational move: empathy, demonstrated sincerity, commanding respect, charisma, creativity, emotional maturity, and 16 more.
• 7 family archetypes — the parent groups: Safety, Goodwill, Authority, Warmth, Reasoning, Drive, Voice. Three carry trust; four carry desire.
• 2,916 distinct fingerprints — the combinations the instrument can resolve. Granular enough to distinguish identical twins.

How the test works

You answer twenty-five forced-choice questions. Each presents a real relational scenario and four options drawn from four different archetype families. You pick the one closest to what you'd actually do. The engine maps your pattern across all 22 behaviours, tertile-codes you within each, and resolves to one of 2,916 fingerprints.

The result is indicative at 25 questions. The full Detailed edition (100 questions) and the Pro edition give progressively tighter reads. We will never present a confidence figure you didn't earn.

What it is not

22 PF is a relational instrument. It does not measure cognitive ability, mental health, diagnostic categories, dominance, or affect. It is not a substitute for clinical assessment. It does not predict job performance. It reads how you relate; nothing more, nothing less.

Closed framework

The 22 behaviours are name-bound. We do not adapt them, rename them, or invent new ones. The framework is closed by design — the discipline of working with what's already there is what makes the readings comparable across people, across editions, and across time.

Honest reads

The instrument is most useful when you answer for how you usually are, not how you wish you were. Reports do not flatter. The most accurate read is also usually the most useful one — the one that tells you both what you reinforce and what sits in tension.

Last updated: 11 May 2026.