Attachment Style Quiz

This attachment style quiz isn’t meant to diagnose specific attachment styles, and it isn’t a substitute for professional mental health support. This quiz is designed to help you understand your attachment patterns and how they may influence your relationships. Understanding your attachment style can help you recognize recurring patterns in your relationships and guide you toward seeking appropriate support if necessary. Remember, the quiz results are just one aspect of understanding your attachment style and should be used in conjunction with other resources, such as therapy and consultation with mental health professionals, for a comprehensive understanding.

There is not a “normal” score on this attachment style quiz, as attachment styles can vary greatly due to individual experiences and relationship dynamics. However, the results of this quiz represent a spectrum of attachment styles, ranging from secure to insecure attachment patterns. It’s important to interpret your score within the context of your own relational history and emotional experiences rather than comparing it to a predefined “normal.”

This attachment style quiz is designed for anyone who wants to know what their attachment style is and how it affects their relationships, including romantic relationships, friendships, and relationships with family. Knowing your attachment style can help you understand how you relate to your partner, friends, co-workers, siblings, parents, and more.

Answering this short, 12-question attachment style quiz will help establish which attachment style you most closely align with. However, this quiz isn’t a diagnostic tool and doesn’t replace advice from a licensed mental health provider. After taking this quiz, it may be helpful to talk with a mental health professional who can help explain the cause of your attachment style and provide you with tools to manage it effectively.

This attachment style quiz can allow you to gain insights into the dynamics of your relationships and identify recurring patterns in your attachment behaviors. It empowers people to make informed decisions about their relational dynamics and take proactive steps toward fostering healthier attachment patterns. You should focus on one relationship at a time when engaging with this quiz, as attachment styles can vary across different relational contexts. You may take the quiz multiple times to assess your attachment style in various relationships.

Anxious attachment style

• You really care about your relationships and sometimes worry about them falling apart. This worry comes from your fear of rejection and doubts about whether you’re deserving of love. You probably need constant reassurance from your romantic partners, feel sensitive when friends are unable to show up for you, and tend to overanalyze your interactions with co-workers and peers.

Secure attachment style

• You trust yourself and others in relationships; you do your best to show up for others and believe that they will do the same for you. You probably are comfortable with intimacy with your romantic partners, have mutually satisfying connections with friends, and can maintain appropriate boundaries in relationships with co-workers and peers. Just like anyone else, you may have moments of self-doubt and relationship conflict, but you handle these difficulties with open and honest communication and respectful boundary setting.

Dismissive attachment style

• You tend to keep those in your life at arm’s length and view dependence in relationships as a weakness. This may stem from your desire to be independent and your worry about being let down by others. You probably avoid emotional vulnerability with your romantic partners, struggle to accept and offer emotional support from friends, and share very little with co-workers and peers beyond work- or school-related matters.

Avoidant attachment style

• You want to have close relationships but are worried about people letting you down or hurting you. This worry stems from past relationships or childhood experiences and doubts about whether you’re deserving of love. You probably struggle with opening up to romantic partners, question whether your friends like you, and avoid social interactions with co-workers and peers.

Since attachment theory was popularized in the 1960s and 70s, it has been increasingly studied by researchers. One question researchers have repeatedly asked is if peoples’ attachment styles predict the kinds of relationships they’ll have. In short, the answer appears to be yes (in part).

Early research on attachment style found that people with a secure attachment style tend to be more successful in relationships, defined by relationship length and level of intimacy. By contrast, a study from this year analyzing attachment patterns in people who are single and partnered found that single people often had attachment styles that made them feel uncomfortable with intimacy. They also had attachment styles that led them to prioritize relationships less and even avoid relationships altogether—all features often associated with anxious, avoidant, and dismissive attachment styles (the researchers for this study did not define attachment style by category but instead by traits).

However, researchers have also found that people can change their attachment styles. A 2019 study indicated that people who set goals to become less anxiously- and avoidantly-attached experienced declines in those attachment styles over time. So, while attachment styles may indicate the kinds of relationships people tend to have, it is possible to move toward a more secure attachment style—and, thus, more secure relationships.