a b s t r a c t In recent years, researchers have recognized the need for very short scales to measure basic personality dimensions. One of the most widely used instruments is the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), aimed at measuring the dimensions of the Five-Factor-Model of personality. The present paper examines to what extent the advantages of minimal length may come at the cost of decreased validity by examining how well the TIPI scales represent the Five-Factor-Model dimensions in a Dutch-speaking sample. More-over, it was tested to what extent the TIPI covers the central core underlying each Five-Factor-Model dimension. The results show that the TIPI is a valid alternative for the existing Five-Factor-Model instru-ments when time is scarce, although the central core of mainly openness is not adequately captured by the respective TIPI scale scores.