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RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION · CSI-16

Free Relationship Satisfaction Test

How satisfied are you with your relationship? Sixteen questions from the Couples Satisfaction Index, about three minutes — one score, the authors' own line, and no compatibility number.

What the Couples Satisfaction Index measures

The Couples Satisfaction Index (CSI) measures overall satisfaction with a romantic relationship. Funk and Rogge built it in 2007 with item response theory, keeping the most precise items from established measures such as the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. This test uses the 16-item version: one score from 0 to 81, where scores below 51.5 suggest notable relationship dissatisfaction.

Funk and Rogge pooled the items of six established satisfaction scales, including the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Marital Adjustment Test, and used item response theory to keep the ones that measured satisfaction most precisely. The 16-item version was validated with 5,315 people, mostly in the USA (80% women, mean age 26; most dating seriously, about a quarter married).

How the score works

Every answer has a point value — the first question 0 to 6, the other fifteen 0 to 5 — and the score is their sum, 0 to 81. The authors give one line: scores below 51.5 suggest notable relationship dissatisfaction. There are no other bands, and this site does not invent any. A total of 49 to 54 is a few answers from the other side, so it is reported as close to the line rather than on one side of it.

What one person's score cannot see

The score is your view of one relationship on one day. It does not include your partner's answers, it does not say why you feel the way you do, and it does not ask about safety. If you are afraid of your partner, have been threatened or hurt, or are controlled in who you see or how you spend money, that is not a satisfaction problem — contact a local domestic-abuse helpline or emergency services.

What is free and what the report adds

Your score, where it sits against the authors' line, the methodology, and the sources are free. The advanced report adds what the CSI measures, a reading written for where your score sits, what a satisfaction score cannot tell you, how satisfaction moves, conversations worth having, when to bring in someone else, a 90-day practice, and an AI reflection module.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Relationship satisfaction questions, answered

What does the score mean?

It runs from 0 to 81, and higher means more satisfied. The authors give one line: scores below 51.5 suggest notable relationship dissatisfaction. There are no finer bands, and this site does not invent any. A score a few steps from the line — 49 to 54 — is reported as close to it rather than on one side.

Is my relationship in trouble if I score below 51.5?

The score says you were notably dissatisfied when you answered; it does not say why, it does not include your partner's view, and it is not a forecast. Low scores come from very different places — a hard season, one unresolved conflict, a slow drift. It is a good reason to talk, and if it stays low, a reasonable reason to consider couples therapy.

Should my partner take it too?

If they want to. Two people in the same relationship can see it differently, and comparing how each of you answered can open a useful conversation. Each of you gets your own score; this site does not combine them into a compatibility number.

Why does it ask the same thing in different ways?

Because that is how it was built. The authors pooled items from six established satisfaction scales — rating questions, true-or-not statements, and adjective pairs — and kept the ones that measured satisfaction most precisely. They are different ways of asking about one thing, and they are scored as one total.

Does a high score mean my relationship is healthy?

Not on its own. A satisfaction scale does not ask about safety. If you are afraid of your partner, have been threatened or hurt, or are controlled in who you see or how you spend money, contact a local domestic-abuse helpline or emergency services — that is not something a satisfaction score can measure.

Can I use this for couples counselling?

The authors distribute it for research and clinical use. This site is a self-reflection tool, not a clinical service; if you are working with a therapist, bring your score to them rather than reading it alone.

SOURCES

Where this test comes from

  1. [1]
    Funk, J. L., & Rogge, R. D. (2007). Testing the ruler with item response theory: Increasing precision of measurement for relationship satisfaction with the Couples Satisfaction Index. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(4), 572–583. ↗

    The validation paper: the item pool, the item response theory selection, and the evidence that the CSI measures satisfaction more precisely than the scales it was built from.

  2. [2]
    Rogge lab, University of Rochester — Self-report scales developed by the Rogge lab (CSI-16 form) ↗

    The source of the sixteen items, response options, point values, scoring rule, and the 51.5 interpretation line, reproduced from the form. The lab distributes the CSI as freely available for research and clinical use; the form does not state terms for commercial use.

  3. [3]
    Early Intervention Foundation (2020, rev. 2024). Measure report: Couples Satisfaction Index (CSI-16). Foundations. ↗

    An independent evidence review, and the source of the validation-sample description quoted on the result page (5,315 people, mostly in the USA). It also notes that no test-retest reliability has been published, which is why the result has no likely range.