How Our Attachment Quiz Works

What the quiz asks

The quiz consists of 24 statements about how you feel and act in close relationships. You answer each on a seven-point scale from disagree to agree. The frame is close relationships in general: a partner if you have one, otherwise the people you are closest to, so the quiz works whether or not you are in a relationship.

Half of the statements concern attachment anxiety: worry about being rejected or abandoned, and a strong need for reassurance. The other half concern attachment avoidance: discomfort with closeness and with depending on others. Research on adult attachment has repeatedly found that these two dimensions capture most of what self-report measures of attachment have in common.^[2][3]

Within each set of 12, four statements are reverse keyed. They are phrased so that agreeing indicates less anxiety or less avoidance. Mixing directions reduces the effect of simply agreeing with everything, a common habit in questionnaires.

How the scores are calculated

For each dimension, we take your 12 answers, flip the reverse-keyed ones (a 7 counts as 1, a 6 as 2 and so on) and calculate the average. This gives two scores, each between 1 and 7:

• an anxiety score, where higher means more worry about rejection and closeness being withdrawn,
• an avoidance score, where higher means more discomfort with closeness and dependence.

The calculation runs entirely in your browser. It is deterministic: the same answers always give the same scores.

From two scores to a style

The two scores place you on a map with anxiety on one axis and avoidance on the other. That map is divided into four regions, following the four-category model of Bartholomew and Horowitz and its later translation into the two dimensions.^[1][4]

Anxiety	Avoidance	Style
Low	Low	Secure
High	Low	Anxious
Low	High	Avoidant
High	High	Fearful-avoidant

High means an average above 4.0, the midpoint of the scale. An average of exactly 4.0 counts as low. The midpoint is a theoretical cut. We do not yet have a norm sample, meaning data from a large, representative group that would tell us where typical scores actually fall. Until we do, the midpoint is the most transparent rule available, and we prefer an honest simple rule to an invented norm.

Results between two styles

The dimensions are continuous, and real people do not sort neatly into boxes. If one of your averages is less than 0.25 points away from 4.0 (above 3.75 and below 4.25), the result says you are between two styles and shows both neighbors. If both scores are close to the midpoint, you may see more than two. This is a full result, not an error: it tells you that on that dimension you sit near the middle.

We also show how clear your result is. If both scores are at least a full point away from 4.0, the result is shown as clear. If neither is in the boundary band but at least one is closer than a full point, the result is shown as leaning toward the style.

What the result can and cannot tell you

What it can do. It gives you a structured way to reflect on your tendencies in close relationships, with a vocabulary drawn from decades of research. It can point you to descriptions that may fit, and it can show movement if you take it again later.

What it cannot do.

• It is not a diagnosis. Attachment styles are not mental health conditions, and the quiz cannot detect any disorder. See attachment style vs attachment disorder.
• It has not been validated. No study has yet tested how well our statements measure the two dimensions or how stable the results are. We do not claim otherwise.
• It has no norms. Without a norm sample, we cannot say how your scores compare with other people’s.
• Answers depend on the moment. Your mood, a recent argument, a new relationship or a breakup all affect how you answer. A result describes how you responded today.
• It sees only what you report. Self-report captures how you see yourself, which is valuable but not the whole picture.

If your result or the topic itself stirs up distress, please read getting support.

Why we wrote our own statements

The best known adult attachment questionnaire is the Experiences in Close Relationships scale and its revised version, developed by Kelly Brennan, Catherine Clark and Phillip Shaver, and revised by R. Chris Fraley, Niels Waller and Brennan.^[2][3] We did not use its wording. We wrote our own 24 statements instead, while building on the same two dimensions that this research tradition established. That means our quiz is inspired by that work, not a copy of it, and results from the two are not directly comparable.

Privacy

Your answers stay in your browser. They are saved locally so you can pause and resume, and they are never sent to our server. We do not have accounts, so there is nothing to sign up for and no profile of you on our side.

For site statistics we use cookieless analytics that record only two anonymous events for the quiz: that a quiz was started and that one was completed. Your answers, scores and style are never part of those events. Details are in our privacy policy.

Sources and further reading

The research behind the two dimensions and the four styles is explained in the wiki, starting with two dimensions of attachment and the four-category model. If you would like to know more about the project itself, see about Pairlings. Ready to try it? Start the attachment style quiz.