3.18.2025

it's not much of a tail, but I'm sort of attached to it

    I am fascinated by the sorts of quizzes designed to help a person know more about who they really are. One of my favorites is The Attachment Project's quiz, a long (20+ minutes) test of attachment style, some hard thinking needed. An email address is required to get the full results.
 
    The stuff with which I particularly agree is in italics, and most highly apt are in red bold

Characteristics of Anxious/Preoccupied Attachment Style are... 
 
• You may feel as though you’re “less than” others. The low sense of self-esteem associated with the anxious attachment style often results in feelings of not being good enough. 
You self-sacrifice and put the needs of others first. This is often due to a lack of sense of self and your own needs. 
• Due to an inconsistent formative period, you may feel as though you’re unworthy of love. Thus, you seek external validation and reassurance from others in an attempt to prove to yourself that you deserve love. 
• You struggle with being single or alone for periods of time. Relationships and intimacy are strongly connected with an anxious attacher’s feelings of self-worth, therefore you may crave attention and try to impress others in an attempt to get it. 
You are caring and kind to your partner’s needs. However, because you may become preoccupied with catering to your partner’s wants, they may end up feeling as though they need space from the relationship. 
• You fear rejection and criticism. Thus, you may become highly upset at any form of disapproval from your partner. 
• You are attentive to your loved ones—almost to a fault. Others may end up taking advantage of your kind and generous nature. 
You are hypervigilant towards any threat to your relationships. Due to your fear of rejection and need for intimacy, you may overanalyze all of your partner’s actions, but yet misinterpret fundamental problems in the relationship. 
• Due to a lack of self agency, you may struggle with making decisions and instead rely on a partner to do so. 
You may act clingy and needy towards your partner if they attempt to spend time with others outside of your relationship. What’s more, you might experience intense feelings of jealousy and frustration if they do so.

This is a kind of ugly truth—though I'm pretty sure there are no "right" answers and that anyone who takes the test will be "pathological" in some way; the questions were written with diagnosis in mind. 
 
[the title quotation is by A.A. Milne, from Winnie-the-Pooh]

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