The RQ is a single item measure made up of four short paragraphs, each describing a prototypical attachment pattern as it applies in close adult peer relationships. Participants are asked to rate their degree of correspondence to each prototype on a 7-point scale. An individual might rate him or herself something like: Secure 6, Fearful 2, Preoccupied 1, Dismissing 4. These ratings (or “scores”) provide a profile of an individual´s attachment feelings and behaviour.
The RQ can either be worded in terms of general orientations to close relationships, orientations to romantic relationships, or orientations to a specific relationship (or some combination of the above). It can also be reworded in the third person and used to rate others´ attachment patterns. For instance, we have had close same sex friends and romantic partners rate themselves and their friend or partner.
The RQ was designed to obtain continuous ratings of each of the four attachment patterns, and this is the ideal use of the measure. However, if necessary, the RQ can also be used to categorize participants into their best fitting attachment pattern. The highest of the four attachment prototype ratings can be used to classify participants into an attachment category. A problem arises when two or more attachment prototypes are rated equally high. To deal with this, we also ask participants to choose a single, best fitting attachment pattern. However, if they have not chosen a best fitting attachment pattern, the researcher can either delete the participant(s) from the data set, or use a method of randomly (perhaps flipping a coin) selecting one of the two prototypes as the attachment category. Unfortunately, if there is a 3-way tie for highest rating and a best fitting attachment pattern has not been chosen, then there is no option but to delete that participant´s data. Although the RQ can be used categorically, we do NOT recommend doing so. A continuous approach, using prototypes or dimensions, is the best approach.
**It is important to administer BOTH the forced-choice paragraph (1st page of measure) AND the likert rating scales of the paragraphs (2nd page of measure), even if you will not use the RQ categorically. Completing the forced-choice paragraph first serves as a counterbalancing effect to minimize order effects when participants rank the degree to which each prototype is self-characterizing.
