Close Relationship Personality Test

Abstract

The Close Relationship Personality Test (CRPT) is a comprehensive, multi-dimensional psychological scale designed to assess an individual’s characteristic relational style within romantic relationships. Developed by researchers specializing in close relationships, the instrument integrates measures of attachment insecurity (anxiety and avoidance) with broader personality dimensions as they manifest in intimate partnerships. The scale is typically administered as a self-report questionnaire, utilizing a 7-point Likert scale to gauge agreement across 85 distinct statements concerning the respondent’s feelings, thoughts, and actions, as well as their perceptions of their partner’s corresponding behaviors.

Keywords

Close relationships, Adult Attachment, relational style, personality assessment, relationship dynamics, self-report scale, romantic relationships, psychological measurement.

Authors

Researchers affiliated with the Personality Lab (originating context suggests collaboration among social and personality psychologists).

Purpose

The primary purpose of the CRPT is to quantify enduring individual differences in how people approach and navigate romantic relationships. It aims to provide a detailed profile of the respondent’s relational tendencies, including their level of comfort with intimacy, dependence, and their degree of worry regarding abandonment or partner availability. The results generated are intended for use in ongoing scientific research into the predictors and outcomes of relational success and distress.

The scale is structured to capture not just the respondent’s self-perception but also their observation of their partner’s generalized behavior, offering a dyadic perspective on relational functioning, although the partner portion focuses more heavily on perceived personality traits rather than complex attachment dimensions.

Construct

The CRPT measures a complex construct best described as Relational Personality Style. This style is operationalized through multiple underlying dimensions, notably:

• Attachment Insecurity: Items related to fear of loss, worry about partner commitment, and dependence difficulty align closely with the traditional dimensions of Attachment Anxiety and Attachment Avoidance, central to Attachment theory.
• Relational Traits: Many items address behaviors and emotional regulation within the relationship (e.g., being talkative, reserved, irritable, assertive, or cooperative). These items suggest the scale also incorporates facets of the Big Five personality traits (such as Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Agreeableness) as they are specifically expressed in an intimate context.

Validity

As the specific psychometric publication detailing the CRPT is not supplied, formal validity statistics (e.g., convergent, discriminant, or predictive validity) cannot be cited here. However, given that a significant portion of the scale items appear to be derived from or highly correlated with the well-established Experience in Close Relationships—Revised (ECR-R), it is highly likely that the attachment dimensions demonstrate strong construct validity consistent with decades of research in social psychology.

Researchers using this instrument typically validate the expanded personality items against standard measures of temperament and relationship quality to ensure the scale accurately captures the intended relational personality facets beyond core attachment dimensions.

Reliability

Specific internal consistency coefficients (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) for the CRPT are not provided in the source material. Nevertheless, instruments derived from the ECR-R typically exhibit high reliability (alphas typically exceeding .80) for the anxiety and avoidance subscales. The inclusion of numerous items (60 for self-report, 25 for partner-report) suggests an attempt to maximize reliability across the various measured sub-constructs.

Factor Analysis

While the detailed factor structure of this combined 85-item test is not publicly available, a factor analysis of the self-report section would likely reveal at least four primary factors, consistent with modern relational assessment:

1. Attachment Anxiety (related to worry, fear of abandonment, and excessive closeness).
2. Attachment Avoidance (related to discomfort with intimacy, dependence, and emotional shutting down).
3. Relational Extraversion/Sociability.
4. Relational Neuroticism/Hostility (related to moodiness, finding fault, and starting quarrels).

Instrument

Test Type: Self-Report Questionnaire (Anonymous and free for research purposes).

Format: Web-based questionnaire using a 7-point agreement scale (1=Strongly Disagree to 7=Strongly Agree).

Language Available: English (as presented in the source material).

Population Group: Individuals currently or previously engaged in romantic relationships.

Age Group: Adults (typically college-age and older, consistent with online psychological studies).

Population Details: Participants are generally drawn from online populations interested in psychological testing or recruited through university settings.

Test Methodology: Participants respond to statements regarding their general feelings and actions in romantic relationships (Part 1: Self-Report, 60 items) and then respond to statements regarding their partner’s general behavior (Part 2: Partner-Report, 25 items).

Keywords

Psychometrics, ECR-R, self-report, relationship distress, intimacy, dependency, relational anxiety, attachment avoidance, personality traits.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in the source context).

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not provided in the source context).

Correspondence Address: N/A (Information not provided in the source context).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale is presented as an anonymous, free test intended for use in scientific research. Users are required to read a consent form prior to participation, indicating ethical oversight for data collection. Permissions for academic use are typically granted by the researchers affiliated with the hosting laboratory.

Fee: Free for participants and impliedly free for academic use under specific research agreements.

Test Year: N/A (Developed for ongoing research; likely post-2000, given the ECR framework).

Reference’s

The instrument is hosted online and explained via an initial consent form: Read our consent form. The test itself is hosted at: http://www.personalitylab.org/tests/ecrr_self_v3.htm

Items of the Close Relationship Personality Test

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Directions: The following statements concern how you feel and act in romantic relationships. We are interested in how you generally experience relationships, not just what is happening in a current relationship. Respond to each statement by indicating how much you agree or disagree with it, using the following rating scale: 1=Strongly disagree to 7=Strongly agree.

1. I’m afraid that I will lose my partner’s love.
2. I am talkative with my partner.
3. I prefer not to show a partner how I feel deep down.
4. I tend to find fault with my partner.
5. I often worry that my partner will not want to stay with me.
6. I feel comfortable sharing my private thoughts and feelings with my partner.
7. I often feel depressed and blue about my relationships.
8. I often worry that my partner doesn’t really love me.
9. I am reserved when with my partner.
10. I find it difficult to allow myself to depend on romantic partners.
11. I worry that romantic partners won’t care about me as much as I care about them.
12. I am helpful and unselfish with my partner.
13. I am very comfortable being close to romantic partners.
14. I am relaxed and handle stress about my relationships well.
15. I often wish that my partner’s feelings for me were as strong as my feelings for him or her.
16. I don’t feel comfortable opening up to romantic partners.
17. When I am with my partner, I am full of energy.
18. I worry a lot about my relationships.
19. I start quarrels with my partner.
20. I prefer not to be too close to romantic partners.
21. When my partner is out of sight, I worry that he or she might become interested in someone else.
22. I can be tense about my relationships.
23. I get uncomfortable when a romantic partner wants to be very close.
24. When I am with my partner, I generate a lot of enthusiasm.
25. When I show my feelings for romantic partners, I’m afraid they will not feel the same about me.
26. I find it relatively easy to get close to my partner.
27. I have a forgiving nature when it comes to my partner.
28. I rarely worry about my partner leaving me.
29. I tend to be quiet around my partner.
30. It’s not difficult for me to get close to my partner.
31. My romantic partner makes me doubt myself.
32. I am generally trusting of my partner.
33. I usually discuss my problems and concerns with my partner.
34. I am emotionally stable and not easily upset about my relationships.
35. I do not often worry about being abandoned.
36. It helps to turn to my romantic partner in times of need.
37. I have an assertive personality with my partner.
38. I find that my partner(s) don’t want to get as close as I would like.
39. I can be cold and aloof with my partner.
40. I tell my partner just about everything.
41. Sometimes romantic partners change their feelings about me for no apparent reason.
42. I can be moody about my relationships.
43. I talk things over with my partner.
44. I am sometimes shy and inhibited around my partner.
45. My desire to be very close sometimes scares people away.
46. I am nervous when partners get too close to me.
47. I am considerate and kind to my partner.
48. I’m afraid that once a romantic partner gets to know me, he or she won’t like who I really am.
49. In my romantic relationships, I remain calm in tense situations.
50. I feel comfortable depending on romantic partners.
51. It makes me mad that I don’t get the affection and support I need from my partner.
52. I am outgoing and sociable with my partner.
53. I find it easy to depend on romantic partners.
54. I am sometimes rude to my partner.
55. I worry that I won’t measure up to other people.
56. It’s easy for me to be affectionate with my partner.
57. I get nervous about my relationships easily.
58. My partner only seems to notice me when I’m angry.
59. I like to cooperate with my partner.
60. My partner really understands me and my needs.

Partner-Report Items: Now take a minute to answer a few questions about how your partners feel and act in romantic relationships with you. Again, we are interested in your experiences with partners in general, not just what is happening in a current relationship. Use the same 7-point agreement scale as above.

61. My partner is talkative with me.
62. My partner tends to find fault with me.
63. My partner is often depressed and blue about our relationship.
64. My partner is reserved when with me.
65. My partner is helpful and unselfish with me.
66. My partner is relaxed and handles stress about our relationship well.
67. When my partner is with me, they are full of energy.
68. My partner starts quarrels with me.
69. My partner can be tense about our relationship.
70. When my partner is with me, they generate a lot of enthusiasm.
71. My partner has a forgiving nature when it comes to me.
72. My partner worries a lot about our relationship.
73. My partner tends to be quiet around me.
74. My partner is generally trusting of me.
75. My partner is emotionally stable and not easily upset about our relationship.
76. My partner has an assertive personality with me.
77. My partner can be cold and aloof with me.
78. My partner can be moody about our relationship.
79. My partner is sometimes shy and inhibited around me.
80. My partner is considerate and kind to me.
81. In our relationship, my partner remains calm in tense situations.
82. My partner is outgoing and sociable around me.
83. My partner is sometimes rude to me.
84. My partner gets nervous about our relationship easily.
85. My partner likes to cooperate with me.