Relationship Satisfaction Assessment RASfree self-assessment

RAS7 itemsAbout 2 minutes

This questionnaire is for self-understanding and reference only and cannot be used to make a clinical diagnosis.

About this assessment

The Relationship Assessment Scale, or RAS, was developed by Susan Hendrick in 1988 and is a brief measure often used in relationship research. It contains only seven questions but asks about some central experiences, including whether your needs are being met, how satisfied you are overall, whether the relationship matches your expectations, and how large the problems feel. The questionnaire does not grade a relationship and it will not tell you whether you should stay or leave. It is more like a chance to stop and look honestly at how being in this relationship actually feels to you right now.

What does it look at?

The questionnaire looks at your overall satisfaction with a current intimate relationship. Each of the seven items is rated from 1 to 5, and an average score is calculated. A higher score means that your overall view of the relationship is more positive at the moment. Changes over time, and whether partners see the same relationship in similar ways, are often more informative than one score on one day.

This assessment may suit you if...

You have a vague sense that the relationship is different from before but find it difficult to say exactly how.
Arguments have become more frequent and you want to step back and look at how you feel about the relationship overall.
You are considering couple counselling and want to organise your thoughts separately first.

Learn more

How long does it take?

About two minutes, with seven items in total.

Can my partner and I complete it separately and compare our results?

Yes, and that can be more informative than looking at only one person's score. If two people experience the same relationship very differently, the difference itself is worth talking about. The point is not to decide whose answer is correct, but to understand why you are seeing different versions of the relationship.

References

Hendrick, S. S. (1988). A generic measure of relationship satisfaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50(1), 93–98.https://doi.org/10.2307/352430
Hendrick, S. S., Dicke, A., & Hendrick, C. (1998). The Relationship Assessment Scale. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15(1), 137–142.
Vaughn, M. J., & Baier, M. E. M. (1999). Reliability and validity of the Relationship Assessment Scale. American Journal of Family Therapy, 27(2), 137–147.
Gottman, J. M., & Levenson, R. W. (1992). Marital processes predictive of later dissolution: Behavior, physiology, and health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63(2), 221–233.
Karney, B. R., & Bradbury, T. N. (1995). The longitudinal course of marital quality and stability: A review of theory, method, and research. Psychological Bulletin, 118(1), 3–34.
Hong Kong study
Lam, L. C. W., Wong, C. S. M., Wang, M. J., Chan, W. C., Chen, E. Y. H., Ng, R. M. K., Hung, S. F., Cheung, E. F. C., Sham, P. C., Chiu, H. F. K., Lam, M., Chang, W. C., Lee, E. H. M., Chiang, T. P., Lau, J. T. F., van Os, J., Lewis, G., & Bebbington, P. (2015). Prevalence, psychosocial correlates and service utilization of depressive and anxiety disorders in Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Mental Morbidity Survey (HKMMS). Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 50(9), 1379–1388.

A quick tip

There are no right or wrong answers. Choose the response that best reflects how you genuinely feel.