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Family Role Distribution Questionnaire3

Family Role Distribution Questionnaire Test

Designed for couples, the Family Role Distribution Questionnaire Test contains 21 questions and takes about 4 minutes. It explores how partners share caregiving, emotional, financial, household, leisure, intimate, and cultural responsibilities. Results can highlight relationship patterns and support thoughtful self-reflection about balance, initiative, and shared responsibilities.

Questions: 214 minutes

Family Role Distribution Questionnaire: situation and reply bubbles

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025Material has been updatedOctober 2, 2025Material has been published

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3,032 completions

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Daniel Hall Psychologist · Test reviewer

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Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

Child RearingCR

Measures how responsibility for raising and educating children is perceived to be distributed between partners in the family.

example score0/5

0/5Sharedexample score

-5 – -1Partner-led

0Shared

1 – 5Self-led

A score of 0 indicates a perception that child-rearing responsibilities are shared relatively evenly between partners.

Family Emotional ClimateFEC

Measures how emotional support, acceptance, and “psychotherapist” functions are perceived as distributed between partners in the family.

example score0/5

0/5Balancedexample score

-5 – -1Support deficit

0Balanced

1 – 5Support surplus

A score of 0 suggests a neutral, balanced perception of emotional-support responsibilities between partners, without a clear sense of deficit or surplus.

Family Financial ProvisionFFP

Assesses how the responsibility for earning income and providing the family’s material well-being is perceived within the couple.

example score-2/5

-2/5Mostly partner-ledexample score

-5 – -2Mostly partner-led

-1 – 1Shared / balanced

2 – 5Mostly self-led

A score of -2 suggests that financial provision is perceived as leaning more toward the partner rather than being equally shared.

Organization of RecreationOoR

Measures how actively a person takes initiative in organizing family leisure, vacations, and shared activities.

example score-1/5

-1/5Moderate initiativeexample score

-5 – -2Low initiative

-1 – 1Moderate initiative

2 – 5High initiative

A score of -1 indicates a moderate level of involvement, suggesting you sometimes organize leisure but may often rely on your partner or circumstances to initiate plans.

Household Manager RoleHMR

Measures how responsibility for home care, cooking, and maintaining order and comfort is perceived within the couple.

example score1/5

1/5Shared/neutralexample score

-5 – -1Low involvement

0 – 1Shared/neutral

2 – 5High involvement

A score of 1 suggests a generally shared approach to household hosting duties with a slight tilt toward taking on more of these responsibilities.

Sexual PartnerSP

Assesses perceived initiative and activity in the intimate/sexual partner role within the couple.

example score0/5

0/5Balancedexample score

-5 – -1Low initiative

0Balanced

1 – 5High initiative

A score of 0 suggests a neutral, balanced view of sexual-initiative responsibility rather than it being clearly low or high.

Organization of Family SubcultureOoFS

Measures how strongly a person takes on the role of organizing the family’s shared cultural values, interests, and hobbies.

example score0/5

0/5Balanced involvementexample score

-5 – -1Low involvement

0Balanced involvement

1 – 5High involvement

A score of 0 indicates a neutral, balanced level of involvement in organizing the family’s subculture, with no clear emphasis on either taking on or avoiding this role.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Couples in recurring conflict

41%OF USERS

Partners who argue about chores, money, decisions, or emotional support take it to clarify expectations and spot imbalances.

Couples entering a new stage

34%OF USERS

Newlyweds, new parents, or couples moving in together use it to agree on who handles which responsibilities before resentment builds.

Therapy and counseling clients

25%OF USERS

People already in individual or couples counseling take it to give structure to discussions about roles, needs, and boundaries.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Shaded area — where most people score

Dot — the average

You — your score lands on each curve after the test— your score, after the test

Raising ChildrenRC

You?

Average0.8

Typical rangeTypical-0.7 – 2.4

Possible-5 – 5

Emotional Climate in the FamilyECitF

You?

Average1.4

Typical rangeTypical-0.4 – 3.2

Possible-5 – 5

Material Support of the FamilyMSotF

You?

Average-0.7

Typical rangeTypical-1.9 – 0.6

Possible-5 – 5

Entertainment OrganizationEO

You?

Average-1

Typical rangeTypical-2.2 – 0.2

Possible-5 – 5

The Role of the Host/HostessTRotH

You?

Average-1.4

Typical rangeTypical-3 – 0.2

Possible-5 – 5

Sexual partnerSp

You?

Average0.1

Typical rangeTypical-1.6 – 1.7

Possible-5 – 5

Organization of Family SubcultureOoFS

You?

Average-0.2

Typical rangeTypical-1.9 – 1.6

Possible-5 – 5

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Please answer the questions below regarding certain aspects of the organization of your family life. Each question includes a set of response options; please select the option that best reflects your perspective.

- Mostly the husband.
- Mostly the husband, but also the wife.
- Mostly the wife, but also the husband.
- Mostly the wife.
- The wife would do this.
- The wife would do this first, but the husband would also do it.
- The husband would do this first, but the wife would also do it.
- The husband would do this.
- The husband more often invites guests.
- Usually the husband invites guests, but the wife does as well.
- Usually the wife invites guests, but the husband does as well.
- The wife more often invites guests.

These are 3 of the 21 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

Family Role Distribution Questionnaire Test - Description and methodology of the test

family roles

family

For couples examining how everyday responsibilities are arranged, the Family Role Distribution Questionnaire Test offers a way to describe who tends to initiate, provide, organize, or respond within the relationship. A role-sharing questionnaire can make familiar routines easier to discuss by turning them into a profile of caregiving, support, money, home life, leisure, intimacy, and shared culture.

What This Assessment Explores

These dimensions help couples compare their marital role distribution and see where responsibility sits:

Child Rearing (-5-5) shows responsibility for raising children: Partner-led (-5--1), Shared (0-0), Self-led (1-5).
Family Emotional Climate (-5-5) shows acceptance and emotional support: Support deficit (-5--1), Balanced (0-0), Support surplus (1-5).
Family Financial Provision (-5-5) shows income responsibility: Mostly partner-led (-5--2), Shared / balanced (-1-1), Mostly self-led (2-5).
Organization of Recreation (-5-5) shows leisure initiative: Low initiative (-5--2), Moderate initiative (-1-1), High initiative (2-5).
Household Manager Role (-5-5) shows home-care involvement: Low involvement (-5--1), Shared/neutral (0-1), High involvement (2-5).
Sexual Partner (-5-5) shows intimate initiative: Low initiative (-5--1), Balanced (0-0), High initiative (1-5).
Organization of Family Subculture (-5-5) shows influence on values and hobbies: Low involvement (-5--1), Balanced involvement (0-0), High involvement (1-5).

Methodology and Evidence Base

As a self-report format, each item offers four choices, ranging from mainly husband-led to mainly wife-led, with two intermediate choices indicating that both partners participate to different degrees.

Results are presented as directional scores across the separate role dimensions, but no item-by-item key explains how each response contributes. Read the bands as directional labels: negative and positive values indicate opposite patterns, while zero or central ranges indicate balance where specified. A family responsibility profile is most useful when compared with the couple’s own experience.

Distribution of Roles in the Family is the named source instrument described by Aleshina, Gozman, and Dubovskaya. This online questionnaire is conceptually consistent with that work, not a documented validated adaptation. Studies by Pishchik and Li and by Evgrafova add relevant context on couple role structures, but they do not validate this online version.

Interpretation depends on honest answers, self-awareness, and current context. The questionnaire provides no population norms or clinical cutoffs, so a result that feels unexpected to the couple can prompt discussion, but it should not be treated as a diagnosis or fixed verdict.

Author: David H. Olson, F. Ivan Nye, Salvador Minuchin

Literature:

Aleshina, Yu. E., Gozman, L. Ya., & Dubovskaya, E. M. (1987). Socio-psychological methods for the study of marital relations: Special practicum on social psychology. Moscow: Moscow State University Press. 120 pp.
Pishchik, V., & Li, I. (2020). Features of the role structure and relationships in Korean and Russian couples. Interpersona, 14(2), 137-149. 10.5964/ijpr.v14i2.3793
Evgrafova, Y. A. (2019). Role structure in young married couples. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Psychology, 9(4), 411-423. 10.21638/spbu16.2019.407

Updated: 2025-10-02