This test crosses two axes to define your attachment style:
- Anxiety: how much fear you feel about being left by people close to you.
- Avoidance: how much discomfort emotional closeness brings up in you.
The combination of both determines your predominant style. It's 20 statements (10 per axis), about 5-6 minutes. Answer with your current relationships in mind, not a single specific relationship.
All possible results
Secure Attachment
Trusting others and staying emotionally close without losing your independence comes naturally to you.
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“Secure attachment combines emotional closeness with independence: you trust that the bonds that matter will hold without needing constant proof.”
Where it comes from
It tends to form with available caregivers who respond warmly and consistently, not perfectly. Bowlby described this as an «internal working model»: the largely unconscious expectation that the people who matter will be there, and that you deserve that care.
How it shows up in your relationships
- You communicate what you feel directly and tolerate the other person doing the same.
- The other person's space or friendships don't get read as rejection.
- You bounce back quickly after conflict: an argument doesn't call the whole bond into question.
- You ask for help or comfort without it being hard to admit you need it.
Your growth edge
Security isn't a permanent, context-proof state: it's sustained through active attention, especially during high-stress moments. Acting as a «secure base» for someone with anxious or avoidant attachment tends to benefit both people.
An important note
This result is orientation-only and informational, inspired by Bowlby and Ainsworth's attachment theory: it isn't a diagnosis and doesn't replace a mental health professional's evaluation.
Anxious Attachment
You seek closeness and constant reassurance, and the fear of abandonment can shape your relationships.
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“Anxious attachment combines a high need for closeness with a persistent fear of abandonment: it isn't general insecurity, it's hypervigilance toward the state of the bond.”
Where it comes from
It's often linked to inconsistent caregiving: caregivers who were sometimes warm and available, and sometimes not, with no way to predict which one would show up. That unpredictability trains an alarm system that switches on easily and is hard to turn off, even in stable adult relationships.
How it shows up in your relationships
- You actively look for confirmation that you still matter to the other person.
- An unanswered message easily reads as a sign that something's wrong.
- An argument can feel like a threat to the entire relationship, not a one-off disagreement.
- You care for the other person intensely, sometimes anticipating needs they haven't even expressed.
Your growth edge
The attachment literature describes that telling the fear apart from the actual evidence, and communicating a need directly instead of through indirect proof-seeking or complaints, tends to be linked to a lower need for constant reassurance. Researchers call this pattern «hyperactivation» of the attachment system.
An important note
This result is orientation-only and informational: it isn't a diagnosis and doesn't replace a mental health professional's evaluation.
Avoidant Attachment
You value your independence over closeness and find it hard to depend on other people emotionally.
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“Avoidant attachment prioritizes self-sufficiency over emotional closeness: it isn't coldness, it's a learned strategy for not depending on something that, at some point, wasn't reliably there.”
Where it comes from
It's often linked to caregivers who were rigid about a baby's expressed needs, sometimes responding with rejection when the baby asked for something. The lesson learned is that asking pushes people away instead of drawing them closer, so the only way to stay somewhat close is to neither depend on nor show need.
How it shows up in your relationships
- Faced with a problem, your first move is to solve it alone rather than ask for support.
- Sharing emotions in depth can feel exposing, even with people you trust.
- After moments of real closeness, you feel the pull to create distance.
- Your communication around emotional topics tends to be more guarded.
Your growth edge
The model distinguishes a «dismissive» avoidant style (comfortable with distance) from a «fearful» one (wants closeness but distrusts it). The literature describes that asking for help with small things, and giving a heads-up instead of disappearing, tends to be linked to better tolerance for closeness, without that meaning a loss of autonomy.
An important note
This result is orientation-only and informational: it isn't a diagnosis and doesn't replace a mental health professional's evaluation.
Disorganized Attachment
You swing between seeking closeness and protecting yourself from it, with bonds that combine a desire for intimacy and distrust.
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“Disorganized attachment combines high anxiety about abandonment with equally high avoidance of closeness: two alarm systems pulling in opposite directions.”
Where it comes from
It's linked to environments where the caregiver was, at once, a source of fear and of comfort. If the baby approached, it triggered the anxiety of a caregiver who didn't know how to respond well; if it pulled away, that same caregiver could experience it as rejection. Neither strategy worked reliably.
How it shows up in your relationships
- You swing, almost without transition, between seeking closeness and needing distance.
- Trusting feels necessary and risky at the same time.
- Under relational stress, you move easily from seeking reassurance to emotional shutdown.
- You describe your relationship history in a more fragmented way than other styles tend to.
Your growth edge
Noticing the back-and-forth as it happens, stable and predictable relationships, and explicit day-to-day structure are, according to the literature, linked to better counterbalancing this pattern's internal unpredictability. It's the style that tends to benefit most from professional support.
An important note
This result is orientation-only and informational: it isn't a diagnosis and doesn't replace a mental health professional's evaluation.
Indicative result, not a diagnosis. It describes how you described yourself today, not a disorder or a clinical condition, and it does not replace assessment by a mental health professional. If what you are feeling overwhelms you or persists over time, consider talking it through with a professional.
How this test was built
This test measures two independent dimensions of emotional bonding: relational anxiety (fear that people close to you will pull away) and relational avoidance (discomfort with closeness and dependence).
This result is not a clinical diagnosis and does not replace evaluation by a mental health professional.
This is a self-administered, informational version, not the Adult Attachment Interview or any protected clinical instrument, those require administration and coding by trained professionals.
See the full methodology
What it measures
This test measures two independent dimensions of emotional bonding: relational anxiety (fear that people close to you will pull away) and relational avoidance (discomfort with closeness and dependence). It does not measure a single good/bad axis, but rather a position on a plane with two coordinates.
What model it uses
The test is based on the four-category model of Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991), which crosses anxiety and avoidance to define four adult attachment styles:
- Secure attachment: low anxiety and low avoidance.
- Anxious attachment: high anxiety, low avoidance.
- Avoidant attachment: high avoidance, low anxiety.
- Disorganized attachment: high anxiety and high avoidance at the same time.
Where that model comes from
The model draws on John Bowlby's attachment theory (1969) about the bond between infant and caregiver, and on Mary Ainsworth's observational studies (1978) on how infants react to separation. Hazan and Shaver (1987) extended these ideas to adult and romantic relationships, and Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991) reformulated them into the two-axis model this test uses.
How the result is calculated
There are 20 statements, 10 for each axis (anxiety and avoidance), with five Likert-type answer options (from 1 to 5 points). Each axis's score is the sum of its 10 questions; the resulting quadrant depends on whether each axis falls above or below its midpoint. Four questions (two per axis) form consistency groups: if your answers within those pairs contradict each other significantly, the test treats it as a possible sign of inconsistency in your answers.
What your result means
The result places your predominant relational tendency within the close bonds you currently maintain (partner, family, friendship), not just within a single specific relationship. Both axis scores show nuance: it is a position in a continuous space, not a closed label.
What it does NOT mean
This result is not a clinical diagnosis and does not replace evaluation by a mental health professional. Nor does it predict how you will behave in every specific relationship: it describes a general tendency, not a fixed destiny.
Limitations
This is a self-administered, informational version, not the Adult Attachment Interview or any protected clinical instrument, those require administration and coding by trained professionals. Like any self-report, it is subject to social desirability bias and self-perception bias, and it may not match how someone who knows you well would describe you.
Academic references
- Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and Loss, Vol. 1: Attachment. Basic Books.
- Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment. Erlbaum.
- Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L. M. (1991). Attachment styles among young adults: A test of a four-category model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(2), 226-244.
- Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(3), 511-524.
- van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1995). Adult attachment representations, parental responsiveness, and infant attachment: A meta-analysis on the predictive validity of the Adult Attachment Interview. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 387-403.
- Guzmán, M., & Contreras, P. (2012). Estilos de apego en relaciones de pareja y su asociación con la satisfacción marital. Psykhe, 21(1), 69-82.
- Barroso Braojos, O. (2014). El apego adulto: la relación de los estilos de apego desarrollados en la infancia en la elección y las dinámicas de pareja. Revista Digital de Medicina Psicosomática y Psicoterapia, 4(1).
Frequently asked questions
How long does the attachment style test take?
Between 5 and 6 minutes: 20 statements with five answer options each.
How is my attachment style calculated?
Each question scores one of two independent axes: anxiety or avoidance. Your combined position on both determines which quadrant (and style) you land in.
Can I have a bit of several styles at once?
Yes. Attachment isn't a closed label: it's a position in a continuous space. The result flags your dominant tendency, but the anxiety and avoidance bars show the nuance.
Should I answer with my current partner in mind?
It's better to think about your usual pattern in close relationships (partner, family, friendships), not just one specific relationship: attachment is a relational style, not something exclusive to romantic relationships.
Is an online attachment test reliable?
It's an orientation-only, informational approximation, not a validated clinical evaluation. If attachment is causing significant distress in your relationships, consult a psychology professional.
See all 13 questions
Which combination of attachment styles is linked to the most satisfaction in a couple?
In a study of 129 people and their partners (Guzmán and Contreras, 2012), people with secure attachment reported the most satisfaction, and couples where both partners were secure were the most satisfied. The least satisfied combination was an avoidant person with a fearful one (Bartholomew’s name for the style we call disorganized here). It is a cross-sectional study with a small sample: it describes tendencies, not destinies.
Is attachment style inherited from your parents?
It is partly passed on, but not as a fixed inheritance. A meta-analysis by van IJzendoorn (1995) found that the way parents talk about their own attachment history matched the security or insecurity of their baby’s attachment in 75% of cases. Even so, Bowlby already argued that attachment models can be readjusted throughout life through new secure relationships.
How do I know if I have an anxious attachment style?
Anxious attachment means scoring high on anxiety and low on avoidance: you seek closeness, but you worry a lot that the other person will pull away and you need frequent signs that the bond is still there. This test measures both axes and places you on the map; you do not need a separate test for each style.
How do I know if I have an avoidant attachment style?
Avoidant attachment is low anxiety and high avoidance: emotional closeness feels uncomfortable and you tend to handle things alone. Attachment theory describes it as a way of regulating emotion by switching off the need for the other person, not as a lack of interest: avoidant people fall in love too.
What is disorganized attachment and how can you recognize it?
It combines high anxiety and high avoidance at the same time: you want closeness and fear it at once, which creates a back-and-forth between moving closer and pulling away. It is the least common style and tends to show up most with very significant people. If that back-and-forth causes you distress, talking it through with a psychology professional is the right step.
Can I develop secure attachment if I did not start with it?
Yes. Research speaks of earned security: with stable relationships, self-knowledge and, in some cases, professional support, attachment models readjust. Secure attachment is not a fixed state either: it is sustained over time and can wobble during stressful periods.
Is fear of abandonment the same as anxious attachment?
They are closely related: the anxiety axis of this test measures exactly the worry that the other person will stop loving you or leave. The difference is scope: fear of abandonment is a specific emotion, and anxious attachment is the wider relational pattern in which it usually appears.
Is the attachment test free?
Yes, it's completely free and you don't need to sign up to take it or to see your result.
