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Perth Emotion Reactivity Scale (PERS-S)3

Perth Emotion Reactivity Scale (PERS-S) Test

Understand how quickly, strongly, and how long your emotions react in about 4 minutes. Get clear, actionable insight into positive and negative patterns in just 18 items.

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Questions: 184 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

25,577 views

2,029 completions

1,588 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

12/15

Intensity (Negative Emotions) (IE)

Measures how strongly and deeply you tend to experience negative emotions when they occur.

Lower intensity

Moderate intensity

Higher intensity

3 – 7: Lower intensity | 8 – 11: Moderate intensity | 12 – 15: Higher intensity

A score of 12 falls in the Higher intensity range, suggesting your negative emotions tend to be experienced as relatively strong and impactful when they arise.

example score

6/15

Duration (Negative Emotions) (DE)

Measures how long negative emotional reactions tend to persist after something upsetting happens.

Short-lived

Moderate duration

Long-lasting

3 – 7: Short-lived | 8 – 11: Moderate duration | 12 – 15: Long-lasting

A score of 6 falls in the Short-lived range, suggesting negative feelings typically fade relatively quickly after a trigger.

example score

6/15

Activation (Negative Emotions) (AE)

This scale measures how easily and quickly negative emotional reactions are triggered by stimuli.

Low activation

Moderate activation

High activation

3 – 7: Low activation | 8 – 11: Moderate activation | 12 – 15: High activation

A score of 6 suggests negative emotions tend to activate relatively slowly and require more noticeable triggers compared with higher scores.

example score

20/45

Overall Negative Emotion Reactivity (ONER)

This scale measures how strongly, quickly, and how long you tend to experience negative emotions in response to stimuli.

Lower reactivity

Moderate reactivity

Higher reactivity

9 – 21: Lower reactivity | 22 – 33: Moderate reactivity | 34 – 45: Higher reactivity

A score of 20 suggests a lower overall tendency for negative emotions to activate quickly, feel intense, or persist for long periods compared with higher scores on this scale.

example score

6/15

Intensity (Positive Emotions) (IE)

This scale measures how strong and deep your positive emotional experiences tend to feel.

Lower intensity

Moderate intensity

Higher intensity

3 – 7: Lower intensity | 8 – 11: Moderate intensity | 12 – 15: Higher intensity

A score of 6 suggests your positive emotions are generally experienced with lower intensity compared with higher scores on this scale.

example score

9/15

Duration (Positive Emotions) (DE)

Measures how long positive emotions tend to persist after a positive event or stimulus.

Short-lived

Moderate

Long-lasting

3 – 7: Short-lived | 8 – 11: Moderate | 12 – 15: Long-lasting

A score of 9 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting your positive feelings typically last a moderate amount of time after uplifting experiences.

example score

6/15

Activation (Positive Emotions) (AE)

This scale measures how easily and quickly positive emotions are triggered in response to stimuli.

Low activation

Moderate activation

High activation

3 – 7: Low activation | 8 – 11: Moderate activation | 12 – 15: High activation

A score of 6 indicates low positive emotional activation, suggesting positive feelings tend to start more slowly or require stronger cues to arise.

example score

32/45

Overall Positive Emotion Reactivity (OPER)

Measures how quickly, strongly, and how long a person tends to experience positive emotions in response to stimuli.

Lower reactivity

Moderate reactivity

Higher reactivity

9 – 21: Lower reactivity | 22 – 33: Moderate reactivity | 34 – 45: Higher reactivity

A score of 32 indicates moderately reactive positive emotions, suggesting positive feelings tend to arise fairly readily, feel noticeable, and last a moderate amount of time.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Therapy and coaching clients

41%OF USERS

People in counseling or coaching take it to map how quickly, strongly, and how long their positive and negative emotions tend to show up.

Mood regulation seekers

34%OF USERS

People who feel their emotions swing fast or linger too long use it to pinpoint whether activation, intensity, or duration is the main issue.

Researchers and students

25%OF USERS

Psychology researchers and students take it to gather quick, structured data on emotional reactivity for studies and projects.

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.

Intensity (negative emotions) (I(e)

Average

10.2

Normal range

8 — 12.4

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Duration (negative emotions) (D(e)

Average

11.3

Normal range

9.8 — 12.8

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Activation (negative emotions) (A(e)

Average

11.5

Normal range

9.9 — 13.1

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Overall Level of Reactivity to Negative Emotions (OLoRtNE)

Average

23.9

Normal range

18.5 — 29.2

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Intensity (positive emotions) (I(e)

Average

11.6

Normal range

9.8 — 13.3

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Duration (positive emotions) (D(e)

Average

7.9

Normal range

5.7 — 10.1

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Activation (positive emotions) (A(e)

Average

11.6

Normal range

9.7 — 13.6

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Overall Level of Reactivity of Positive Emotions (OLoRoPE)

Average

26.9

Normal range

22.3 — 31.6

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

This questionnaire is designed to assess your typical response to life events and situations that are emotionally significant to you. Please rate the following statements according to how generally applicable or not applicable they are to you. Select the response option that best fits each statement.

- Not at all like me
- Somewhat unlike me
- Neither like me nor unlike me
- Somewhat like me
- Very much like me
- Not at all like me
- Somewhat unlike me
- Neither like nor unlike me
- Somewhat like me
- Very much like me
- Not at all like me
- Somewhat unlike me
- Neither like me nor unlike me
- Somewhat like me
- Very much like me

These are 3 of the 18 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Perth Emotional Reactivity Scale, PERS-S Test

Perth Emotion Reactivity Scale (PERS-S) Test - Symptoms and Signs

affect

emotionality

Emotional reactivity can vary meaningfully across individuals in how quickly emotions arise, how strongly they are felt, and how long they persist. The Perth Emotion Reactivity Scale (PERS-S) is a brief self-report measure designed to characterize these features for both positive and negative emotions.

The instrument includes 18 items and typically requires about 4 minutes to complete. Responses yield indices reflecting activation, intensity, and duration of emotional responses, with positive and negative domains considered separately.

In clinical and research contexts, the Perth Emotion Reactivity Scale (PERS-S) may be used to support structured assessment of individual differences in emotional responding and to inform case formulation when emotional reactivity is a presenting concern.

Author: James J. Gross, Richard J. Davidson

Literature: Gross, J. J. Emotion regulation: Conceptual and empirical foundations. In J. J. Gross (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation. Guilford Press. 2014.