Your references should be people who have known you for a significant period of your life. These references will be asked questions about your honesty, reliability, and trustworthiness, and their opinion on whether you should be given access to classified information or assigned to a sensitive position or position of trust.
Your references will also be asked questions about your past and present activities, employment history, education, family background, neighborhood activities, and finances. During your PSI, the investigator(s) will need to know if you have had any involvement with drugs, encounters with the police, allegiance to the US or problem drinking habits, and other facts about your personal history. The investigator(s) will attempt to obtain both favorable and unfavorable information about your background so an adjudicator can make an appropriate determination.