The Relationships Structures (RS) questionnaire is a self-report instrument designed to assess attachment patterns in a variety of close relationships. The same 10 items are used to assess attachment styles with respect to 4 targets (i.e., mother, father, romantic partner, and best friend). The items were written in a way that allows them to be used for a variety of interpersonal targets and for a variety of age groups. If desired, the 10 items can be used to target only one kind of relationship and, therefore, this instrument can be used as a 10-item version of the ECR-R.

Although the RS questionnaire is not published yet, our preliminary work suggests that it is quite useful. The test-retest reliability (over 30 days) of the individual scales are approximately .65 for the domain of romantic relationships (including individuals who experienced breakups during the 30-day period) and .80 in the parental domain. Moreover, research from our lab indicates that the scales are meaningfully related to various relational outcomes (e.g., relationship satisfaction, likelihood of experiencing a breakup, the perception of emotional expressions), as well as to one another.

The first article to be published from our lab using the RS is the following:

Fraley, R. C., Niedenthal, P. M., Marks, M. J., Brumbaugh, C. C., & Vicary, A. (in press). Adult attachment and the perception of emotional expressions: Probing the hyperactivating strategies underlying anxious attachment. Journal of Personality.

This article is not about the RS per se, but does report a set of 4 empirical studies based on it using the global scoring discussed below. We will be publishing a more extensive article on the RS in an invited article for the Journal of Personality sometime in the next 2 years. When that manuscript is available, I will post a draft of it on this page.

Relationship-specific attachment

Two scores, one for attachment-related avoidance and the other for attachment-related anxiety, should be computed for each interpersonal target (i.e., mother, father, partner, friend). The avoidance score can be computed by averaging items 1 - 6, while reverse keying items 1, 2, 3, and 4. The anxiety score can be computed by averaging items 7 - 10. These two scores should be computed separately for each relationship target.

General or global attachment

To create relationship-general or global attachment scores, simply average the scores computed above. The global avoidance score would be the mean of avoidance with mother, avoidance with father, avoidance with partner, and avoidance with friend. Similarly, the global anxiety score would be the mean of anxiety with mother, anxiety with father, anxiety with partner and anxiety with friend.

1. It helps to turn to this person in times of need.
2. I usually discuss my problems and concerns with this person.
3. I talk things over with this person.
4. I find it easy to depend on this person.
5. I don't feel comfortable opening up to this person.
6. I prefer not to show this person how I feel deep down.
7. I often worry that this person doesn't really care for me.
8. I'm afraid that this person may abandon me.
9. I worry that this person won't care about me as much as I care about him or her.
10. I don't fully trust this person.

A. Please answer the following 10 questions about your mother or a mother-like figure.
B. Please answer the following 10 questions about your father or a father-like figure.
C. Please answer the following 10 questions about your dating or marital partner. Note: If you are not currently in a dating or marital relationship with someone, answer these questions with respect to a former partner or a relationship that you would like to have with someone.
D. Please answer the following 10 questions about your best friend.

Items that can be copied and pasted.
An on-line, self-scoring version of the measure.