Comparison
12 Axes vs 16 Values
16 Values (16valuestest.com) reports sixteen axes in four groups; 12 Axes Test reports twelve in four categories. This page sets out what each one measures and how long it is, as read from its own About page on 5 October 2026. 12 Axes Test is independent and not made by or affiliated with 16 Values.
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At a glance
| 12 Axes Test | 16 Values | |
|---|---|---|
| Axes | 12, in four categories: government, diplomacy, economy and society | 16, in four groups: Economy, State & Power, Nation & Society, Values & Worldview |
| Statements | 36, 60 or 288 (quick, standard, full) | 61 in the final test, drawn from a pool of 128 (the page calls it a pilot) |
| Answers | 7 levels, from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree | 5 levels: +1, +0.5, 0, −0.5, −1 |
| Licence | Statements from the open-source 12axes question bank, MIT licence | No licence is named on its About page |
When the 12-axis test fits
You want a test with a longer option (288 statements) or a quicker one (36), a result that includes country, figure and historical-state matches, or the test in Portuguese, Spanish, German or French.
When 16 Values fits
You want more axes: it splits economy into four and adds axes such as Science–Faith and Individual–Collective, with 61 statements in the final test.
Where the axes overlap
By name, several axes appear in both lists: Federal × Unitary, Democracy × Autocracy, Security × Freedom, Assimilation × Multiculturalism, Nationalism × Internationalism and Tradition × Progress. 16 Values adds, among others, Science × Faith, Techno-optimism × Simplicity, Individual × Collective and Pragmatism × Idealism. Similar names do not guarantee the same statements, so the scores are not interchangeable.
What none of these tests can show
A set of statements is a small sample of what a person thinks. How you answer depends on how you read the wording, and the same answer can mean different things in different countries and decades.
Scores from different tests are not on the same scale, and no conversion exists between them: a result on one cannot be turned into a result on another. Use any of them as a prompt to look at your own views, not as a label.
Questions
How many statements does 16 Values ask?
61 in the final test, drawn from a pool of 128. Its page describes the test as a current pilot. This site asks 36, 60 or 288.
Do the 12 axes and 16 Values measure the same things?
They overlap in themes, such as federalism, democracy, security and freedom, assimilation and tradition, but they use different axes and statements. 16 Values has four more axes.
Is a test with more axes more accurate?
Neither test can be shown to be more accurate. More axes give more detail, not more certainty; both depend on how you read the wording of each statement.
Sources
Read on 5 October 2026 from the tests' own pages:
- https://16valuestest.com/about
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