⚠ Educational Use Only — The ECR-RS is a self-reflection educational tool. It does not provide a clinical diagnosis or professional evaluation. Please consult a qualified professional for formal assessment.
36Total Items
4Relationships
4Attachment Styles
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Free ECR-RS Attachment Style Test — Secure, Fearful Avoidant, Dismissive & Preoccupied

The ECR-RS (Experiences in Close Relationships – Relationship Structures) is the only validated attachment test that measures your attachment style separately across four specific relationships — Mother, Father, Romantic Partner, and Best Friend. Developed by Fraley, Heffernan, Vicary & Brumbaugh (2011). Unlike single-score attachment quizzes, the ECR-RS reveals how your attachment style differs depending on the person.

Free printable PDF — complete the test, export your scatter plot and results instantly.

🟢 Secure

Low anxiety, low avoidance. Comfortable with intimacy and confident in relationship stability.

🔵 Preoccupied

High anxiety, low avoidance. Craves closeness but fears rejection and abandonment.

🟡 Dismissive-Avoidant

Low anxiety, high avoidance. Prefers emotional independence; suppresses attachment needs.

🟠 Fearful-Avoidant

High anxiety, high avoidance. Desires closeness but distrusts and fears intimacy.

Domain 1: Mother

Please answer the following 9 items regarding your feelings toward this person.

Domain 1 of 4 Auto-saved
Please answer all 9 items in this section before continuing.
Neuroviax Academy — ECR-RS Attachment Style Test
neuroviaxacademy.com/tools/ecr-rs-relationship-structures-attachment-test.html
Secure — Low Anxiety + Low Avoidance (bottom-left)
Preoccupied — High Anxiety + Low Avoidance (bottom-right)
Dismissive-Avoidant — Low Anxiety + High Avoidance (top-left)
Fearful-Avoidant — High Anxiety + High Avoidance (top-right)
Mother Figure
...
Anx: — | Avoid: —
Father Figure
...
Anx: — | Avoid: —
Romantic Partner
...
Anx: — | Avoid: —
Best Friend
...
Anx: — | Avoid: —

Differentiation Analysis

Calculating...

 Academic Citation

Fraley, R. C., Heffernan, M. E., Vicary, A. M., & Brumbaugh, C. C. (2011). The Experiences in Close Relationships—Relationship Structures questionnaire: A method for assessing attachment orientations across relationships. Psychological Assessment, 23(3), 615–625. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022898

How to Use This Free ECR-RS Attachment Test

Step 01

Four relationships

Rate 9 statements about how you feel in each of four relationships: Mother, Father, Romantic Partner, and Best Friend. Use the 1–7 scale for each item. Auto-saved throughout.

Step 02

Scoring explained

Items 1–6 measure Avoidance (items 1–4 reverse-scored). Items 7–9 measure Anxiety. Scores are averaged. The midpoint is 4.0 — above = high, below = low on each dimension.

Step 03

Read the scatter plot

X-axis = Anxiety. Y-axis = Avoidance. Each relationship is a dot. Bottom-left = Secure. Bottom-right = Preoccupied. Top-left = Dismissive. Top-right = Fearful-Avoidant.

Step 04

Understand differentiation

If your dots are spread across quadrants, that's differentiation — you have different attachment patterns with different people. This is common and clinically meaningful.

Why the ECR-RS is unique: Most attachment tests give you a single score — one style for all relationships. The ECR-RS reveals that attachment is relationship-specific. A person can be Secure with their best friend and Fearful-Avoidant with a parent — patterns shaped by the specific history and dynamic of each relationship. The ECR-RS is freely available from Professor Fraley's academic website at the University of Illinois and is widely used in both research and clinical settings.
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ECR-RS Attachment Style Test: The Four Styles Explained

The Experiences in Close Relationships – Relationship Structures (ECR-RS) was developed by Fraley, Heffernan, Vicary and Brumbaugh (2011) to address a fundamental limitation in attachment research: the assumption that a person has a single, global attachment style. The ECR-RS applies the same 9 validated items across multiple specific relationships, revealing that attachment orientations are relationship-specific — shaped by the unique history, trust, and dynamics of each bond.

The Four Attachment Styles: Secure, Preoccupied, Dismissive-Avoidant, Fearful-Avoidant

The ECR-RS plots results on two dimensions — Attachment Anxiety and Attachment Avoidance — intersecting at the midpoint of 4.0. This produces four quadrants corresponding to four attachment styles. Secure attachment (low anxiety, low avoidance) reflects comfort with intimacy and confidence in relationship availability. Preoccupied attachment (high anxiety, low avoidance) is characterized by strong desire for closeness combined with intense fear of rejection or abandonment. Dismissive-Avoidant attachment (low anxiety, high avoidance) reflects a preference for emotional independence and discomfort with depending on others. Fearful-Avoidant attachment (high anxiety, high avoidance) combines both the desire for closeness and the fear of it — resulting in the most complex and often distressing relational pattern.

Why Attachment Style Differs Across Relationships: Differentiation

A key finding from ECR-RS research is that differentiation is the norm, not the exception. Most people show different attachment patterns with different relationship figures. A person might score Secure with a best friend — reflecting a stable, trusting friendship history — while scoring Fearful-Avoidant with a parent, reflecting early relational experiences. This differentiation is clinically significant: it reveals which specific relationships carry the most attachment distress, and which provide a secure base. Research also shows that a Secure attachment with a romantic partner can provide a buffering effect against insecure parental models.

ECR-RS Scoring: How Anxiety and Avoidance Are Calculated

The ECR-RS uses a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Items 1–6 measure Attachment Avoidance, with items 1–4 reverse-scored before averaging (subtract from 8). Items 7–9 measure Attachment Anxiety, averaged directly. The midpoint is 4.0. Scores below 4.0 on both dimensions indicate Secure attachment for that relationship. The Fraley laboratory makes the ECR-RS freely available for research and clinical use — no license or fees required.

ECR-RS vs ECR-R: Key differences (Fraley et al., 2011)
FeatureECR-RS (Relationship Structures)ECR-R (Revised)
Scope4 specific relationships separately1 global romantic attachment score
Items9 items per relationship (36 total)36 global items
Key strengthReveals differentiation across relationshipsStable global trait measure for romance
RelationshipsMother, Father, Partner, FriendRomantic partner only
LicenseFreely available (Fraley lab)Freely available (Fraley lab)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the ECR-RS and what attachment styles does it measure?

The ECR-RS measures Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance across 4 specific relationships and classifies each into one of four styles: Secure (low anxiety, low avoidance), Preoccupied (high anxiety, low avoidance), Dismissive-Avoidant (low anxiety, high avoidance), and Fearful-Avoidant (high anxiety, high avoidance). It was developed by Fraley et al. (2011) and is freely available for research and clinical use.

Is this ECR-RS test free and available online?

Yes. This is a free ECR-RS attachment style test available online — no account, payment, or download required. The ECR-RS is freely available from Professor Fraley's academic website. Complete all 36 items for instant scatter plot results and a free printable PDF.

What is the fearful avoidant attachment style in the ECR-RS?

Fearful-Avoidant attachment reflects high scores on both Anxiety (above 4.0) and Avoidance (above 4.0). These individuals want closeness but also fear intimacy and abandonment — a painful push-pull. They desire connection but distrust others enough to avoid it. On the scatter plot, fearful-avoidant points appear in the upper-right quadrant.

Why do I have different attachment styles for different relationships?

This is called differentiation in working models — it's common and expected. Attachment patterns are shaped by the specific history, trust, and dynamics of each relationship. A reliable friendship might foster Secure attachment, even if early parental relationships created anxious or avoidant patterns. The ECR-RS is specifically designed to capture this differentiation.

What is the difference between ECR-RS and ECR-R?

The ECR-R (36 items) measures a single global romantic attachment style. The ECR-RS (9 items per relationship) applies the same items across 4 specific relationships, revealing differentiation. The ECR-RS is more efficient and shows how attachment varies by person — something the ECR-R cannot do.

Does this replace a formal professional evaluation?

No. The ECR-RS is an educational self-reflection tool. It does not provide a clinical diagnosis. A qualified professional must be consulted for formal assessment.