Activity level

The activity level is a less reliable measure than the other personality dimensions. There are multiple aspects of the activity level:

1. Low activity level represents more of a tendency towards moodiness, in particular the tendency to think about things about which nothing can be done. High activity level individuals tend more to action rather than musing over matters.
2. The Personality Assessment System defines multiples developmental stages of personality. This Interactive Assessment Inventory addresses only the first, or "primitive" level. There are three levels, the primitive, basic, and surface (or contact). As a person matures, in each dimension individuals either continue along their primitive personality direction or "compensate" and gain the balance of the abilities of the opposite trait. Development of each dimension is independent of the other two. Individuals with high activity level are better able to maintain the surface, or contact, level of development rather than slipping back to a prior level under stress.

Note that neither a high or low activity level is inherently "good" or "bad". How this personality variable functions depends upon both the remainder of the personality and life situation.