‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…

It turns out that secretly, spies are just like us. Visitors to SPYSCAPE HQ have now completed more than five million authentic spy challenges and helped us to fine-tune the accuracy of our profile methodology and algorithm.


Your personalized SPYCHOLOGY profile is based on a series of challenges available exclusively at SPYSCAPE HQ and included free in the price of admission.


You may not think it matters whether you’d be a better Spymaster or Spycatcher, Agent Handler or Hacker but the profile that answers those questions also reveals the personality, skills, and attributes that inform and empower your potential.

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
The Special Ops Challenge immerses you in a laser tunnel to test Agility and Strategy


How did we get here? Well, we worked with real-life spies and superheroes, and a former Head of Training at Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, plus a top professor of psychology who’s authored over 1,000 academic papers, to develop a diverse set of challenges based upon decades of academic and professional experience and expertise.

The full set of challenges is available exclusively at SPYSCAPE HQ.

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
The SPYSCAPE HQ Encryption Challenge

The result is SPYCHOLOGY, a multi-faceted assessment methodology and scoring algorithm to uncover your spy superpowers from empathy and perception to analysis and risk tolerance. Your profile provides you with a detailed dossier of more than 40 pages filled with insights into what makes you special. Your profile can remain ‘For Your Eyes Only’ or be shared and compared with colleagues, friends, and family. We even make it easy for you to compare your results with famous spies (both real and fictional) with profiles like yours.

SPYSCAPE’s ESPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…ncryption Challenge tests code-making, code-breaking, and intellectual skills 
Your SPYCHOLOGY assessment is available exclusively at SPYSCAPE NYC HQ


There’s nothing to study and no homework! The results are based on scientific studies (see below) and our proprietary methodology and algorithm.

Isn’t it time you discovered your superpowers? 

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
The immersive 360° Surveillance Challenge tests Observation and Perception



The Science Behind the Profiles

Brainpower


Raven, J. (2000). The Raven's progressive matrices: change and stability over culture and time. Cognitive psychology, 41(1), 1-48.

Murray, A. L., Johnson, W., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (2014). How are conscientiousness and cognitive ability related to one another? A re-examination of the intelligence compensation hypothesis. Personality and Individual Differences, 70, 17-22.

Reynolds, J., McClelland, A., & Furnham, A. (2014). An investigation of cognitive test performance across conditions of silence, background noise and music as a function of neuroticism. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 27(4), 410-421.

Ahmetoglu, G., Dobbs, S., Furnham, A., Crump, J., Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Bakhshalian, E. (2016). Dark side of personality, intelligence, creativity, and managerial level. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 31(2), 391-404.


Composure

Uppal, N. (2014). Moderation effects of job characteristics on the relationship between neuroticism, and job performance. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 22(4), 411-421.

Huang, J. L., Ryan, A. M., Zabel, K. L., & Palmer, A. (2014). Personality and adaptive performance at work: A meta-analytic investigation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(1), 162.

Dima, D., Friston, K. J., Stephan, K. E., & Frangou, S. (2015). Neuroticism and conscientiousness respectively constrain and facilitate short‐term plasticity within the working memory neural network. Human brain mapping, 36(10), 4158-4163.

Inquisitiveness


Litman, J. A., & Spielberger, C. D. (2003). Measuring epistemic curiosity and its diversive and specific components. Journal of personality assessment, 80(1), 75-86.

Mussel, P. (2013). Introducing the construct curiosity for predicting job performance.

Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(4), 453-472.

Minbashian, A., Earl, J., & Bright, J. E. (2013). Openness to experience as a predictor of job performance trajectories. Applied Psychology, 62(1), 1-12.

Hot Risk


Lauriola, M., Panno, A., Levin, I. P., & Lejuez, C. W. (2014). Individual differences in risky decision-making: A meta‐analysis of sensation seeking and impulsivity with the balloon analog risk task. Journal of Behavioral Decision-Making, 27(1), 20-36.

Fukunaga, R., Brown, J. W., & Bogg, T. (2012). Decision-making in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART): anterior cingulate cortex signals loss aversion but not the infrequency of risky choices. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 12(3), 479-490.


Cold Risk

Charness, G., & Jackson, M. O. (2009). The role of responsibility in strategic risk-taking. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 69(3), 241-247.

Rogers, J., Viding, E., & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2013). Instrumental and disinhibited financial risk-taking: Personality and behavioral correlates. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(6), 645-649.


Interpersonal Skills


Akhtar, R., Boustani, L., Tsivrikos, D., & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2015). The engageable personality: Personality and trait EI as predictors of work engagement. Personality and Individual Differences, 73, 44-49.

Mittal, E. V., & Sindhu, E. (2012). Emotional intelligence and leadership. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 12(16).

Sociability

Huang, J. L., Bramble, R. J., Liu, M., Aqwa, J. J., Ott‐Holland, C. J., Ryan, A. M., ... & Wadlington, P. L. (2016). Rethinking the association between extraversion and job satisfaction: The role of interpersonal job context. Journal of Occupational and
Organizational Psychology, 89(3), 683-691.

Lü, W., Wang, Z., Liu, Y., & Zhang, H. (2014). Resilience as a mediator between extraversion, neuroticism, and happiness, PA and NA. Personality and Individual Differences, 63, 128-133.

Conscientiousness

Carter, N. T., Dalal, D. K., Boyce, A. S., O’Connell, M. S., Kung, M. C., & Delgado, K. M. (2014). Uncovering curvilinear relationships between conscientiousness and job performance: How theoretically appropriate measurement makes an empirical difference. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(4), 564.

Credé, M., Tynan, M. C., & Harms, P. D. (2017). Much ado about grit: A meta-analytic synthesis of the grit literature. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(3), 492.

Duckworth, A., & Gross, J. J. (2014). Self-control and grit: Related but separable determinants of success. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23(5), 319-325.

Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of personality and social psychology, 92(6), 1087.

Ohme, M., & Zacher, H. (2015). Job performance ratings: The relative importance of mental ability, conscientiousness, and career adaptability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 87, 161-170.

‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…

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It turns out that secretly, spies are just like us. Visitors to SPYSCAPE HQ have now completed more than five million authentic spy challenges and helped us to fine-tune the accuracy of our profile methodology and algorithm.


Your personalized SPYCHOLOGY profile is based on a series of challenges available exclusively at SPYSCAPE HQ and included free in the price of admission.


You may not think it matters whether you’d be a better Spymaster or Spycatcher, Agent Handler or Hacker but the profile that answers those questions also reveals the personality, skills, and attributes that inform and empower your potential.

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
The Special Ops Challenge immerses you in a laser tunnel to test Agility and Strategy


How did we get here? Well, we worked with real-life spies and superheroes, and a former Head of Training at Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, plus a top professor of psychology who’s authored over 1,000 academic papers, to develop a diverse set of challenges based upon decades of academic and professional experience and expertise.

The full set of challenges is available exclusively at SPYSCAPE HQ.

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
The SPYSCAPE HQ Encryption Challenge

The result is SPYCHOLOGY, a multi-faceted assessment methodology and scoring algorithm to uncover your spy superpowers from empathy and perception to analysis and risk tolerance. Your profile provides you with a detailed dossier of more than 40 pages filled with insights into what makes you special. Your profile can remain ‘For Your Eyes Only’ or be shared and compared with colleagues, friends, and family. We even make it easy for you to compare your results with famous spies (both real and fictional) with profiles like yours.

SPYSCAPE’s ESPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…ncryption Challenge tests code-making, code-breaking, and intellectual skills 
Your SPYCHOLOGY assessment is available exclusively at SPYSCAPE NYC HQ


There’s nothing to study and no homework! The results are based on scientific studies (see below) and our proprietary methodology and algorithm.

Isn’t it time you discovered your superpowers? 

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
The immersive 360° Surveillance Challenge tests Observation and Perception


Discover your spy superpowers

Fictional spies like James Bond and real spies like Jack Barsky use the spy skills we all possess: from agility, empathy, and risk tolerance to analysis, observation, and composure.

Your profile explains what your results reveal about your personality, and introduces you to real and fictional professionals in the world of secret intelligence who have profiles similar to yours. In order to assemble your profile dossier, SPYSCAPE tests the following attributes to help determine your spy superpowers.

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is composed under fire

1. COMPOSURE

Are you the highly composed Jason Bourne type? If you score high for Composure you are not overly fazed by stressful situations - although you’re not immune to stress. On the whole, you keep your emotions under control and can regulate your negative emotions when the going gets tough but that could get risky if you’re too relaxed. People who score high for Composure often make good Special Operations Officers, Agent Handlers, and Technical Ops Officers. A low Composure score suggests your stress levels may be high, particularly when presented with danger.

People with high scores in Composure tend to be laid back, cool, and focused. Those with low scores are generally emotional, perceptive, responsive, and vigilant.

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
Impulsive Sterling Archer would score moderately low on the test for Conscientiousness


2. CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

Your level of Conscientiousness reveals whether you find it easy or difficult to stay focused on long-term goals and whether you are detail-oriented or distracted quickly. Conscientiousness shapes how likely you are to follow rules, regulate your behavior, and get organized. The more conscientious you are, the more motivated by goals and tasks you are likely to be. Your Conscientiousness score can help predict your success in social, academic, and professional situations. People with a high level of Conscientiousness may make excellent Cryptologists, Hackers, Spycatchers, and Intelligence Officers.

People scoring high in Conscientiousness tend to be high-achieving, accountable, and self-disciplined. Those scoring low in conscientiousness tend to be impulsive, flexible, and spontaneous.

 

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
George Smiley (Alec Guinness) would likely score highly on Cold Risk


3. COLD RISK 

The Cold Risk assessment measures your focus when making complex decisions about what you are likely to gain in the long-term, rather than on what you might lose. Do you work through strategies thoroughly, think effectively and efficiently, and are you assertive once you come to your decision? If so, you will likely have a high Cold Risk score. People who score highly in Cold Risk are willing to take calculated risks, even if there is a chance they could lose big. When they see a good opportunity, they go for it. Like George Smiley, they make good Spymasters.

People with high scores in Cold Risk tend to be confident, tactical, and assertive. Those with low scores in Cold Risk tend to be sensible, practical, and loss-averse.

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
Iron Man Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) would likely make risky decisions

4. HOT RISK

People who score extremely high for Hot Risk are likely to take chances and make risky decisions - even when the stakes are high. When they make a quick decision with immediate consequences, they consider potential gains over potential losses. Even as it becomes more likely they’ll lose, they may carry on. High scorers are drawn to experiences with an element of risk, such as riding the world’s tallest roller coaster, and make good Technical Ops Officers and Special Operations Officers. People with an extremely low score don’t like taking risks, especially when the stakes are high, and prefer the safest option. They try to avoid lifestyle and financial decisions that might lead to immediate, negative consequences, preferring things to be predictable and planned.

People scoring high in Hot Risk are often impulsive, adventurous, reward-seeking, and daring. People scoring low in Hot Risk are generally cautious, careful, prudent, and measured.


SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) from Homeland would likely score extremely high on Inquisitiveness

5. INQUISITIVENESS

Your Inquisitiveness score indicates whether you are curious about a range of topics and whether you like/dislike exploring new things and seeking out new information. Do you prefer tasks that require problem-solving and dealing with complex ideas or ones with a straightforward solution? Highly inquisitive people are imaginative and enjoy travel. They may also have an interest in artistic pursuits such as listening to unusual kinds of music or learning about different religious and political beliefs regardless of their own views. They also make good Spycatchers and Intelligence Analysts.

People who score high in Inquisitiveness tend to be curious, open-minded, imaginative and inventive. Those with low Inquisitiveness scores tend to be more practical, habitual, and pragmatic.

Kim Possible cartoon character
Kim Possible score high on Sociabiity

6. SOCIABILITY

A person who scores high on Sociability prefers to spend time in groups. Sociable people naturally gravitate toward busy places, feel happy and energized around others, and typically love being the center of attention. This can mean, however, that they may sometimes speak before they think. Being amicable means gaining others’ trust easier than those who score lower on this attribute - but highly sociable people may also trust too easily. People with high Sociability scores may make good Intelligence Officers.

People with high Sociability scores tend to be talkative, friendly, and enthusiastic. Those with low Sociability tend to be quiet, reserved, introspective, and private.

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
Bletchley Park codebreaker Alan Turing would score high for Mental Horsepower


7. MENTAL HORSEPOWER (BRAINPOWER) 

If you score highly on this attribute, you’re more likely to be the Alan Turing type - and Turing had an IQ of 185! The result, driven by your performance in the puzzle-solving tests, suggests that you're a relatively analytical and mathematical thinker. Because you’re usually good at finding patterns and links in data, you are able to solve challenging problems pretty well and would likely make a good Intelligence Analyst, Spycatcher, Hacker, or Cryptologist.

People with high scores in Mental Horsepower tend to be logical, good at deduction, and may use their skills to hypothesize and complete tricky puzzles. Those scoring low in Brainpower tend to be intuitive, creative thinkers, emotional, and impulsive.

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
In Inception, Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) cons secrets from victims by infiltrating their dreams


8. DECEIT DETECTION

Our Deceit Detection challenge uses a lie-detection booth equipped with cameras and sensors. You will learn the signs that identify when others are lying under pressure, and be tested on how good you are at lying convincingly and spotting lies. Your ability to lie and detect deceit contribute to your profile’s Interpersonal Skills score. Unlike analytical or mathematical reasoning, the test answers are less obvious. They’re shaped by observing subtle behavioral characteristics. Good Interpersonal Skills enable us to communicate well with individuals and collaborate effectively in groups.

People with strong Deceit Detection skills often make good Agent Handlers and Intelligence Officers. Those with strong Interpersonal Skills find it easier to get along well with others and tend to have better relationships in both formal and informal situations, either at work or at home. 

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
L.B. ‘Jeff’ Jefferies (Jimmy Stewart) in Rear Window would score high for Observation


9. SURVEILLANCE (OBSERVATION)

Our Surveillance Challenge tests your Observation skills, which is what you perceive and process from your senses to make better judgments and improve how you interact with people. Attention is something that we learn and can practice. We can recognize which signals in the brain we should notice, and which we should not. Honing your observation skills and improving your memory can help you notice, analyze, and remember your surroundings - ideal qualities for Surveillance Officers and Technical Ops Officers.

People who score highly in Observation are usually good at filtering information, they are good listeners, and they pay close attention to their surroundings. People who score low in Observation may be easily overloaded, subject to biases, and pay less attention than others.

SPYCHOLOGY: ‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
Vincent Cassel who dances with a laser field in Ocean’s 12 would score high for Agility



10. AGILITY (PHYSICAL)

Agility is measured by our ability to efficiently change the position of our bodies. Good Agility requires speed and strength because you need to be able to move all or part of your body quickly, and use various muscles (or muscle groups) to overcome resistance while doing so. Good balance is also required - not only when you are moving (dynamic balance) but also when you are standing still (static balance). Physical (motor) coordination is equally important, as is being aware of the position of your body, which is known as proprioception - sometimes called our ‘sixth sense’. Those with good Agility may make good Surveillance Officers or Special Operations Officers. 

People with high scores in Agility are likely highly dexterous and physically skilled. A lower score may indicate less stamina and flexibility. Note: our main Agility challenge at SPYSCAPE HQ is the laser maze - this also measures strategy because choosing to break some of the lasers (in order to access more buttons) can boost your score!

‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…
Elliot (Rami Malak) is a hacker with social anxiety disorder and clinical depression


Your spy profile


Would you make a better Hacker than Mr. Robot’s Elliot Alderson or are you more suited to being a Special Ops Officer like Jason Bourne?

Find out more about your spy profile on our website and the 10 spy roles you could be assigned including: Agent Handler; Cryptologist; Hacker; Intelligence Analyst; Intelligence Operative; Special Ops Officer; Spycatcher; Spymaster; Surveillance Officer, and; Technical Ops Officer.

‍Spies Like Us. Ten Spy Superpowers We All Possess…


While the complete SPYCHOLOGY experience is only available at our HQ in New York City you can try the personality element online.


The Science Behind the Profiles

Brainpower


Raven, J. (2000). The Raven's progressive matrices: change and stability over culture and time. Cognitive psychology, 41(1), 1-48.

Murray, A. L., Johnson, W., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (2014). How are conscientiousness and cognitive ability related to one another? A re-examination of the intelligence compensation hypothesis. Personality and Individual Differences, 70, 17-22.

Reynolds, J., McClelland, A., & Furnham, A. (2014). An investigation of cognitive test performance across conditions of silence, background noise and music as a function of neuroticism. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 27(4), 410-421.

Ahmetoglu, G., Dobbs, S., Furnham, A., Crump, J., Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Bakhshalian, E. (2016). Dark side of personality, intelligence, creativity, and managerial level. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 31(2), 391-404.


Composure

Uppal, N. (2014). Moderation effects of job characteristics on the relationship between neuroticism, and job performance. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 22(4), 411-421.

Huang, J. L., Ryan, A. M., Zabel, K. L., & Palmer, A. (2014). Personality and adaptive performance at work: A meta-analytic investigation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(1), 162.

Dima, D., Friston, K. J., Stephan, K. E., & Frangou, S. (2015). Neuroticism and conscientiousness respectively constrain and facilitate short‐term plasticity within the working memory neural network. Human brain mapping, 36(10), 4158-4163.

Inquisitiveness


Litman, J. A., & Spielberger, C. D. (2003). Measuring epistemic curiosity and its diversive and specific components. Journal of personality assessment, 80(1), 75-86.

Mussel, P. (2013). Introducing the construct curiosity for predicting job performance.

Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(4), 453-472.

Minbashian, A., Earl, J., & Bright, J. E. (2013). Openness to experience as a predictor of job performance trajectories. Applied Psychology, 62(1), 1-12.

Hot Risk


Lauriola, M., Panno, A., Levin, I. P., & Lejuez, C. W. (2014). Individual differences in risky decision-making: A meta‐analysis of sensation seeking and impulsivity with the balloon analog risk task. Journal of Behavioral Decision-Making, 27(1), 20-36.

Fukunaga, R., Brown, J. W., & Bogg, T. (2012). Decision-making in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART): anterior cingulate cortex signals loss aversion but not the infrequency of risky choices. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 12(3), 479-490.


Cold Risk

Charness, G., & Jackson, M. O. (2009). The role of responsibility in strategic risk-taking. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 69(3), 241-247.

Rogers, J., Viding, E., & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2013). Instrumental and disinhibited financial risk-taking: Personality and behavioral correlates. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(6), 645-649.


Interpersonal Skills


Akhtar, R., Boustani, L., Tsivrikos, D., & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2015). The engageable personality: Personality and trait EI as predictors of work engagement. Personality and Individual Differences, 73, 44-49.

Mittal, E. V., & Sindhu, E. (2012). Emotional intelligence and leadership. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 12(16).

Sociability

Huang, J. L., Bramble, R. J., Liu, M., Aqwa, J. J., Ott‐Holland, C. J., Ryan, A. M., ... & Wadlington, P. L. (2016). Rethinking the association between extraversion and job satisfaction: The role of interpersonal job context. Journal of Occupational and
Organizational Psychology, 89(3), 683-691.

Lü, W., Wang, Z., Liu, Y., & Zhang, H. (2014). Resilience as a mediator between extraversion, neuroticism, and happiness, PA and NA. Personality and Individual Differences, 63, 128-133.

Conscientiousness

Carter, N. T., Dalal, D. K., Boyce, A. S., O’Connell, M. S., Kung, M. C., & Delgado, K. M. (2014). Uncovering curvilinear relationships between conscientiousness and job performance: How theoretically appropriate measurement makes an empirical difference. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(4), 564.

Credé, M., Tynan, M. C., & Harms, P. D. (2017). Much ado about grit: A meta-analytic synthesis of the grit literature. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(3), 492.

Duckworth, A., & Gross, J. J. (2014). Self-control and grit: Related but separable determinants of success. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23(5), 319-325.

Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of personality and social psychology, 92(6), 1087.

Ohme, M., & Zacher, H. (2015). Job performance ratings: The relative importance of mental ability, conscientiousness, and career adaptability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 87, 161-170.

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