Effort Stress Test

In about 2 minutes, the Effort Stress Test uses 10 yes-or-no questions to record reported experiences related to work strain, persistent striving, and emotional tension. The result indicates stress associated with achievement pressure, occupational strain, and possible overwork, giving you a focused basis for self-reflection and awareness of burnout-related patterns.

Questions: 102 minutes

Effort Stress Test: sample question card

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

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Daniel Hall Psychologist · Test reviewer

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Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

Effort StressES

Measures stress linked to persistent overstriving for achievement, difficulty disengaging from work, and sustained professional tension.

example score62/100

62/100Moderateexample score

0 – 33Low

34 – 66Moderate

67 – 100High

A score of 62 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting noticeable effort-related tension and a tendency to stay mentally engaged with work even when off-task.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Overloaded senior leaders

41%OF USERS

Executives and directors who feel constant time pressure and struggle to switch off, even during evenings or vacations.

Ambitious rising managers

34%OF USERS

New or fast-growing managers who are pushing hard for results and recognition and worry that work is taking over their life.

Performance-driven founders

25%OF USERS

Business owners and startup leaders who tie self-worth to productivity and want an early warning sign before burnout hits.

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

Effort stressEs

You?

Average37.8

Typical rangeTypical19.4 – 56.2

Possible0 – 100

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- Yes
- No
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- No

These are 3 of the 10 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

Effort Stress Test - Description and methodology of the test

business

work stress

workaholism

People who feel driven to keep proving themselves at work may use the Effort Stress Test to examine whether achievement pressure is becoming a persistent source of strain. It is suited to adults reflecting on workplace demands, emotional tension, sleep, appetite, and related habits. As a workplace strain assessment, it offers a focused result that can help identify patterns worth observing in daily life.

What This Assessment Explores

Items cover irritation, perceived hostility from colleagues, feeling undervalued by a supervisor, early waking, unexplained fear, cravings, appetite, memory, changes in when you feel like working, and a partner's comment about thinking and sex. These reported experiences contribute to the result.

For this assessment, Effort Stress refers to stress associated with excessive striving, workaholism, and occupational strain. In this work-related stress test, the result indicates the level of that stress; a high score may indicate overwork and emotional burnout without establishing workaholism itself. Results are Low (0-33), Moderate (34-66), or High (67-100). The thematic groups are:

Achievement pressure reflects persistent striving that may be creating strain.
Interpersonal tension shows how irritation or feeling undervalued enters the result.
Stress-related signs capture changes in sleep, appetite, memory, fear, cravings, and work motivation.

Methodology and Evidence Base

Each item uses yes-or-no responses, making the format direct but leaving little room for frequency, severity, or context. The response pattern becomes one displayed result; because individual weighting is not specified, points per answer should not be inferred from the bands.

The Effort-Reward Imbalance model and the published Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire provide conceptual context for this effort stress questionnaire, while this online questionnaire is not presented as a standardized adaptation of that instrument. The 2004 European comparison and 2014 psychometric study concern related effort-and-reward measurement rather than standardizing this online questionnaire. Karasek's 1979 demand-and-decision-latitude model adds a complementary account of mental strain.

As an online self-report, the result is best read against current circumstances. Mood, memory, social expectations, and temporary workload can shape self-report, and this version has no stated norms for clinical interpretation. A high result points to patterns worth examining alongside working conditions, recovery, and relationships.

Author: Johannes Siegrist, Robert A. Karasek

Literature:

Siegrist, J. (1996). Adverse health effects of high-effort/low-reward conditions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 1(1), 27-41. 10.1037/1076-8998.1.1.27
Siegrist, J., Starke, D., Chandola, T., Godin, I., Marmot, M., Niedhammer, I., and Peter, R. (2004). The measurement of effort-reward imbalance at work: European comparisons. Social Science & Medicine, 58(8), 1483-1499. 10.1016/S0277-9536(03)00351-4
Siegrist, J., Li, J., and Montano, D. (2014). Psychometric properties of the Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire. Düsseldorf University.
Karasek, R. A. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: Implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(2), 285-308. 10.2307/2392498

Updated: 2025-10-02