The Managing Fear Trait Measures the Willingness to Conquer Fear
The managing fear trait is one of the People Traits scored on the Aptitude assessments. It predicts who will raise a problem with the person causing it, and who will let that problem sit rather than risk upsetting anybody.
What Does the Managing Fear Trait Measure?
The managing fear trait measures the understanding and, in most cases, the willingness to conquer fear.
Three specific fears sit behind the number: the fear of the consequences of upsetting somebody, the fear of confronting another person, and the fear of making a mistake. One score covers all three, so a low reading can come from any single one of them or from all of them together.
What the managing fear trait is not
It is not only an intellectual understanding of fear. Consequently, somebody who can describe the right response and still avoids the conversation will not score well here. Willingness sits inside the reading alongside understanding, which is why the two cannot be separated on this trait.
What the Managing Fear Trait Helps You Evaluate Before You Hire
Seven questions carry this reading on the People and Logic Test and ten on the Sales Ability Test, each offering five answers with only one correct.
Why the Managing Fear Trait Matters in Hiring
This is one of the few readings where the top of the scale carries its own cost.
Because willingness sits inside the score, it predicts what a candidate will actually do rather than what they know they should do.
Three Fears, One Number
Upsetting somebody, confronting another person and making a mistake each feed this score, so context decides which one actually applies.
Understanding Is Not Enough
Knowing the right response counts for nothing without willingness to use it, which is why both sit inside this reading.
High Is Not Always Better
Outside management and sales positions, the confronting that arrives with a very high reading could be inappropriate for the role.
How a low Managing Fear score shows up on the job
Avoidance rarely looks like avoidance from the outside. Instead, it looks like a problem that everybody knew about and nobody named until it became expensive.
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How the Managing Fear Trait Is Scored
Seven questions on the People and Logic Test, or ten on the Sales Ability Test, produce a score from 0 to 100 across six named ranges.
Low — under 41
A poor understanding of fear, or a genuine fear of upsetting somebody, confronting another person or of making any mistake.
Medium — 41 to 74
A borderline version of those same three fears, moving toward somebody who is clearly not afraid of them above 60.
High — 75 to 100
Very brave about upsetting somebody, with no problem confronting other people and no fear at all of making any mistakes.
Do not read upward as better on this trait. The strongest general reading sits from 61 to 74, and above that the assessment warns that outside management and sales the confronting which comes with it can be inappropriate for the job.
Managing Fear is one of the People Traits on the Aptitude assessments
Each trait in this set scores knowledge about people rather than personality.
However, this one adds willingness to that knowledge, which is why it sits beside the traits that govern how directly somebody deals with others.
Assertive
Assertive is the closest relation. It scores whether somebody believes boldness works, while this trait scores whether fear stops them.
Confront People
Confront People scores how important addressing offensive behavior is, and the behavioral counterpart then shows whether somebody actually does it.
Honesty
Honesty measures personal bravery, the willingness to give an embarrassing real reason, which draws on the same courage as confronting.
Hunter
Hunter lists fear among its own relations, because cold outreach asks somebody to risk rejection several times in one hour.
People Traits
The category this trait belongs to. Every People Trait is scored from multiple choice questions with one correct answer, so these readings measure what a candidate actually knows rather than how they describe themselves. T
Best Practice: Never treat a high reading as automatically better. Confirm what the role needs first, because outside management and sales the confronting that comes with a very high score can be inappropriate.
How to Interpret Managing Fear Results
Six named ranges cover this trait, two of them labeled Borderline.
Both the IC Aptitude Test and the Sales Aptitude Test include it, and the Sales Ability Test and the People and Logic Test are its closest related tests.
What to Do Based on Your Managing Fear Score
Guessing alone could reach 20, so read this as a very poor understanding or great fear of upsetting somebody, confronting another person or making a mistake.
A poor understanding, or fear of the consequences of upsetting somebody, fear of confronting another person or fear of making a mistake. Any combination is possible.
A borderline fear of upsetting somebody, of confronting another person or of making a mistake. Workable where the role only rarely asks for a difficult conversation.
Not afraid of the consequences of upsetting somebody, not afraid to confront another person and not afraid to make mistakes. Generally strong for most supervisory positions.
Very brave about what could happen after upsetting somebody, with no problem confronting people or making mistakes. Check whether the position actually rewards that much directness.
Very brave, entirely comfortable confronting people and unafraid of mistakes. Outside management and sales positions, this degree of confronting can sometimes be inappropriate for the job.
Assessment results support your hiring decisions, they do not replace them. Always read the managing fear trait score alongside the full profile and your role benchmarks before drawing a conclusion.
The Managing Fear Trait Matters for Every Role You Hire
Because the amount of confronting a job demands differs sharply between positions, benchmarks define what each reading means. Therefore, review results against the benchmark for the specific job.
Relevant for all role types
Frontline Supervisor
Operations Manager
Collections Specialist
Sales Representative
Account Executive
Quality Inspector
Service Coordinator
Team Lead
If any of these situations sound familiar, this assessment is for you
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Frequently Asked Questions
It measures the understanding and, in most cases, the willingness to conquer fear. Three fears sit behind the score: the consequences of upsetting somebody, confronting another person, and making a mistake. One number covers all three, so the role context tells you which one is likely in play.
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