SoulTraceSoulTrace

HIGH5 Test: The Strengths-Based Personality Assessment Explained

Table of Contents

By

- 9 min Read

HIGH5 Test: The Strengths-Based Personality Assessment Explained

The HIGH5 test is a free strengths-based personality assessment that identifies your top five strengths from a pool of 20 possible strength themes. Rather than measuring personality traits or cognitive preferences, HIGH5 focuses on what you naturally do well—your recurring patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior that produce positive results.

If you've heard of CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) but don't want to pay $50+ for it, HIGH5 positions itself as the free alternative. Here's what it actually measures and whether it delivers.

What HIGH5 Measures

HIGH5 identifies strengths across four domains:

Strategic Thinking: How you process information and make decisions

  • Analyst, Strategist, Problem Solver, Philomath, Brainstormer

Relationship Building: How you connect with others

  • Empathizer, Harmonizer, Storyteller, Coach, Believer

Influencing: How you take charge and drive action

  • Commander, Self-Believer, Chameleon, Winner, Catalyst

Execution: How you make things happen

  • Deliverer, Focus Expert, Time Keeper, Optimizer, Achiever

Your results show your top five strengths ranked by score, plus insights on how they interact.

How the HIGH5 Test Works

The test presents approximately 100 paired statements. You choose which statement describes you more, or rate how strongly you agree with descriptions of behavior patterns.

The assessment takes about 15-20 minutes. Results are immediate and free—you get your top five strengths without paying anything. Extended reports with career insights and team applications are paid upgrades.

The Strengths Philosophy

HIGH5 is built on positive psychology's strengths hypothesis: people achieve more by developing their natural talents than by fixing weaknesses. This idea, popularized by Gallup's StrengthsFinder research, suggests that:

  • Strengths are stable patterns, not fleeting preferences
  • Working in your strengths zone increases engagement and performance
  • Weakness-fixing produces diminishing returns beyond basic competence

The evidence for this is mixed. Studies show that using strengths correlates with well-being and engagement, but whether the causation runs that direction—and whether knowing your "strengths label" changes outcomes—is less clear.

HIGH5 vs. CliftonStrengths

The obvious comparison. Both identify top strengths from a larger pool, both come from the positive psychology tradition, both emphasize application over theory.

CliftonStrengths advantages:

  • Backed by Gallup's extensive research database
  • 34 themes with more granularity
  • Decades of organizational validation data
  • Coach ecosystem for guided development

HIGH5 advantages:

  • Free basic assessment
  • 20 themes (simpler, less overwhelming)
  • No institutional gatekeeping
  • Accessible without organizational subscription

The honest take: CliftonStrengths has stronger research backing and more organizational validation. HIGH5 provides a reasonable approximation for people who can't or won't pay Gallup's prices. The 20-theme framework is less precise but potentially more actionable—fewer themes means less analysis paralysis.

Is Strengths-Based Assessment Scientific?

The strengths approach sits in an interesting position. It's more empirically grounded than MBTI or Enneagram—positive psychology is a legitimate research field—but less rigorous than Big Five personality measurement.

What the research supports:

  • People do have consistent behavioral patterns that constitute relative strengths
  • Awareness of strengths correlates with well-being
  • Organizations that leverage employee strengths show better engagement metrics
  • Strengths-based coaching produces measurable outcomes in some studies

What's less clear:

  • Whether strengths are as stable as the framework claims
  • Whether the specific 20 (or 34) themes carve nature at its joints
  • Whether strengths assessment adds value beyond common-sense self-awareness
  • Whether the "don't fix weaknesses" advice generalizes

The measurement problem: Strengths assessments rely entirely on self-report. You're telling the test what you think you're good at, and it confirms that back to you. External validation (do others observe these strengths?) is rarely part of the process.

Interpreting HIGH5 Results

When you get your top five:

Look for themes: Do your strengths cluster in one domain (all Strategic Thinking, for example) or spread across domains? Clustering suggests a strong orientation; spread suggests versatility.

Consider combinations: Two strengths together create something neither provides alone. A Strategist + Empathizer combination differs meaningfully from Strategist + Commander.

Note what's absent: Your bottom strengths aren't weaknesses—they're areas where you expend more energy to produce results. Worth knowing for role fit and energy management.

Don't over-identify: These are tendencies, not destiny. Knowing your top strength doesn't mean you should only do activities that match it.

Limitations of the HIGH5 Approach

Self-report bias: You rate yourself. People with high self-awareness get accurate results; people without it get back their self-image, accurate or not.

Positive framing bias: Everything is a "strength." There's no framework for understanding genuine limitations or growth areas. This feels good but may not serve development.

Context dependence: A strength in one environment is neutral or negative in another. "Commander" serves leadership roles but creates friction in collaborative flat structures.

Cultural assumptions: The strength themes reflect Western, individualist, achievement-oriented values. "Winner" and "Self-Believer" carry cultural weight that doesn't translate universally.

Stability claims: The framework assumes strengths are enduring. But people change—through experience, effort, and life circumstances. A 25-year-old's top strengths might differ significantly at 45.

When HIGH5 Is Most Useful

Career exploration: If you're choosing between paths, strengths can clarify which roles will feel energizing versus draining. Not definitive, but a useful data point. Pair strengths data with a proper career aptitude test for more actionable career guidance.

Team composition: Understanding each member's strengths helps with task allocation and reducing friction. Works best when the whole team takes it together.

Coaching conversations: Gives coaches and mentees shared language for discussing development. The framework provides structure for otherwise vague discussions.

Self-awareness baseline: If you haven't thought systematically about your patterns, any structured assessment creates useful reflection. HIGH5 is accessible enough to start that process.

When HIGH5 Falls Short

Clinical concerns: Strengths assessment isn't therapy or clinical evaluation. If you're struggling with mental health, a strengths profile won't help.

Complex decisions: "Follow your strengths" is insufficient guidance for major life choices. Context, values, obligations, and opportunity all matter more than strength profiles.

Interpersonal conflict: Knowing someone's strengths doesn't resolve disagreements. Conflict resolution requires different tools.

Scientific rigor: If you need validated personality measurement for research or high-stakes decisions, use Big Five instruments with established psychometric properties. See our guide on personality test accuracy for what real validation looks like.

Beyond Strengths: Alternative Approaches

Strengths assessment captures one dimension of personality. Other frameworks offer different lenses.

Trait-Based Measurement (Big Five)

The most validated approach in personality science. Measures Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism on continuous scales. Less immediately actionable than strengths, but more scientifically grounded.

Drive-Based Assessment

Rather than asking "what are you good at?", drive-based models ask "what motivates you?" This distinction matters—you might be skilled at something that drains you, or passionate about something you're still developing.

The SoulTrace assessment uses a five-color model mapping to psychological drives:

  • White: Structure, responsibility, fairness
  • Blue: Understanding, precision, mastery
  • Black: Agency, achievement, strategy
  • Red: Intensity, expression, authenticity
  • Green: Connection, growth, belonging

Twenty-five archetypes emerge from combinations of these drives. Unlike strengths frameworks, this captures motivation and orientation—not just capability.

Type-Based Systems (MBTI, Enneagram)

Less empirically supported than either strengths or trait models, but popular for their intuitive appeal. If you find strengths too surface-level, type systems offer deeper psychological narratives—at the cost of scientific rigor.

Making the Most of HIGH5

If you take the test:

Validate externally: Ask people who know you well whether your results match their observations. Self-report needs external calibration.

Test in context: Try consciously applying your top strengths in different situations. Notice when they help and when they don't.

Don't ignore gaps: "Focus on strengths" doesn't mean "ignore everything else." Basic competence across domains still matters.

Combine with other data: One assessment gives one perspective. Multiple frameworks—strengths, traits, drives, feedback—build a fuller picture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the HIGH5 test free?

The basic assessment showing your top five strengths is free. Extended reports, team features, and detailed career insights require a paid subscription.

How accurate is HIGH5?

HIGH5 measures what you report about yourself consistently. Whether those self-reports reflect reality depends on your self-awareness. The framework has face validity—results usually feel accurate—but limited external validation research.

How does HIGH5 compare to StrengthsFinder?

Similar philosophy, different execution. CliftonStrengths has 34 themes and decades of organizational research. HIGH5 has 20 themes and is freely accessible. CliftonStrengths is more precise; HIGH5 is more accessible.

Can strengths change over time?

The framework says they're stable. Reality is more nuanced—core tendencies persist, but their expression and relative ranking can shift with experience, context, and intentional development.

Should I use HIGH5 for hiring?

Use caution. Strengths assessments weren't designed for selection, and using them as gatekeepers creates legal and ethical concerns. They're better suited for development after hiring than screening before it.

Try a Different Approach

HIGH5 offers a positive, accessible entry point to personality assessment. If strengths resonate with you, it's worth exploring.

For something that goes deeper—measuring drives and motivations, not just capabilities—try the SoulTrace assessment. Adaptive Bayesian methodology. Twenty-five archetypes capturing personality patterns. Probability distributions instead of ranked lists. Results that explain why you do what you do, not just what you're good at.

Twenty-four questions. No payment required for core results. A different lens on who you are.

Soultrace

Who are you?

Stay in the loop

Get notified about new archetypes, features, and insights.