Romantic Possessiveness Index Test

Introduction

Wanting your partner's time and attention is part of being in a relationship. Possessiveness lives on the same spectrum: it describes how strongly you seek exclusivity and reassurance, and how you react when a rival — real or imagined — seems to threaten the relationship. In moderation it is ordinary; when it grows into constant worry or control, it tends to drain both partners.

This test draws on the research tradition of romantic jealousy and possessiveness: the construct of possessiveness in intimate relationships (Pinto & Hollandsworth, 1984), Buunk's (1997) distinction between reactive, anxious and possessive jealousy, and the theoretical framework of White & Mullen (1989). The items are our own wording, written for self-reflection.

The Three Dimensions

• Emotional Reactivity: How strongly you react, in the moment, to your partner's interactions with other people.
• Anxious Worry: Worries and rumination about your partner's attention, your own standing, and the stability of the relationship.
• Controlling Behavior: Actions that monitor, restrict or steer your partner's social life and freedom.

Scoring

Each item is rated on a 5-point scale from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree". Your raw score (0–72) is converted to a 0–100 Romantic Possessiveness Index, and each dimension is shown as a percentage. The cutoffs are this site's own convention for framing results — they are not validated clinical thresholds.

References

• Pinto, R. P., & Hollandsworth, J. G. (1984). A measure of possessiveness in intimate relationships. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2(3), 273. doi:10.1521/jscp.1984.2.3.273
• Buunk, B. P. (1997). Personality, birth order, and attachment styles as related to various types of jealousy. Personality and Individual Differences, 23(6), 997–1006.
• White, G. L. (1981). A model of romantic jealousy. Motivation and Emotion, 5, 295–310.
• White, G. L., & Mullen, P. E. (1989). Jealousy: Theory, Research, and Clinical Strategies. Guilford Press.
• This is an original, mechanism-inspired self-reflection tool (exploratory). It is adapted from concepts in the jealousy and possessiveness literature rather than reproducing a validated instrument, and it has not been formally tested for reliability or validity.