Frequently Asked Questions


What benefits will I get from taking a relationship evaluation?

What RELATE isn't:

To know what you'll get from RELATE, you first need to know what you WON'T get. RELATE is not a compatibility test, or a love quiz, or a crystal ball that tries to predict the future of your relationship. You can't "fail" RELATE, nor will we tell you to break up or stay together—only you can decide that.

What RELATE is:

Instead, it's a clinically validated assessment that helps you understand how factors in your family life, personality and values, social interactions and relationships will affect your later marital quality. The assessment includes over 200 questions, after which you receive a detailed report to help you interpret your (and your partner's) responses.

Benefits to taking RELATE include:

  • A better understanding of your personality characteristics, including emotional health, self-esteem, and flexibility
  • Insight into how your family environment and childhood may impact your later marital happiness
  • The ability to compare your relationship experiences with your partner's- including speaking and listening skills, conflict resolution styles, defensiveness, and more
  • Understanding similarities and differences in values, including your views on gender roles, religion, togetherness, and more
  • Easy-to-read graphs and summaries that showcase your responses and your partner's responses so you can quickly identify trouble areas and topics for further discussion
  • Interpretation suggestions and resources to help you take the next steps in improving your relationship
  • You'll start TALKING about your relationship, equipped with real data that makes a difference

Your relationship deserves reliable results

Best of all, your RELATE report delivers reliable, validated results you and your partner can trust. The scales of RELATE have reliability scores between .70 and .90 for both internal consistency and test-retest calculations. Validity results are equally impressive, with educators, clinicians, and researchers alike supporting RELATE as a sound instrument for forecasting marital satisfaction.

In short, the results RELATE delivers are correct. The weaknesses the questionnaire identifies are real, but so are their remedies. We'll help you chart a course to a happier relationship.

Why should I take the Institute's relationship evaluation over a competing one?

RELATE stands apart from the field. It isn't a silly love quiz like many you'll find on the Internet. But it isn't a complex, lengthy exam that requires a PhD to understand the questions and interpret the results.

Take RELATE because:

  • Questions are straightforward and easy to understand. You can complete the questionnaire in about an hour.
  • You'll get real details to help make your relationship better—your personalized, color RELATE report will include more than 20 pages and a dozen bar graphs comparing your responses with your partner's.
  • You don't need a counselor to interpret results. Your report includes explanations and guidelines of what to do when you spot differences.
  • It's secure and entirely online. Take a few questions now, then return and log in later. Your report is available just moments after you and/or your partner complete the questions.
  • You can take RELATE as a couple, or as a "single partner" (partner not participating).
  • RELATE offers more questions on more areas of marital quality than its two main competitors, and at a lower price.
  • RELATE offers excellent relationship insights regardless of your marital status—currently dating, engaged, or already married.

Do I need to be married in order to take a relationship evaluation?

Who should take relate:

You should! Whether you are in a casual or serious relationship, just dating or already married, RELATE can help you understand your relationship and get you talking. Because it covers all of the factors that are predictive of later marital quality, RELATE works for:

  • People in serious dating relationships struggling with the decision to commit or break up
  • Engaged couples preparing for a lasting marriage
  • Newlyweds setting goals and learning to compromise
  • Married couples seeking to improve their relationship and understand their conflicts

If you are in a relationship, you can take RELATE alone, or have your partner participate as well. We highly recommend that both partners take the questionnaire to achieve best results.

Not in a relationship right now? Find out if you're READY for when the right person comes along. Learn more about the Institute's READY assessment for individuals not in a relationship.

How much does a relationship evaluation cost?

  • The RELATE questionnaire is $20 per person, $40 per couple.
  • The READY questionnaire is $20 per person.
  • All major credit cards accepted.
  • If you have a professional supervisor, you can use "tokens" they have purchased to take the assessment online via the Institute's secure server.
  • Your token will allow you to register with a username and password, valid until you have completed your assessment and received your report.
  • Price includes the complete questionnaire, a full-color report you can download and print from your printer, and technical support during your assessment. For questions regarding your questionnaire, contact us at (801) 422-4359 or via e-mail at relate@byu.edu.

Can I see a sample report from a relationship evaluation?

The RELATE report is a personalized, color report detailing all of your responses and your partner's responses from the RELATE questionnaire. Each report is more than 20 pages long and includes more than a dozen easy-to-read bar graphs, guidelines for interpreting RELATE, and resources to help you improve your relationship.

RELATE Institute reports come in three parts. See a sample first part of a report below.

What relationship evaluations does the Institute offer?

Each time I log in, the web site tells me to log in again. What's wrong?

This is a known issue for 5% of the users who use Internet Explorer 6.0. It is a Microsoft bug where a second cookie from the same web site is dropped.

To solve it, there are two things you can do:

  1. Use another browser. Mozilla FireFox is a free alternative browser that does not have this bug.
  2. Use a friend's computer. Since only 5% of computers are affected by this bug, there is a very good chance that any other computer you choose to use will not suffer from this problem.

Why does the web site tell me my browser is unsupported?

The RELATE website uses javascript extensively, especially on the questionnaire. Many browsers display pages and interpret javascript very differently, potentially making the site unreadable, or otherwise making the questionnaire difficult to take.

If you have disabled javascript, you will need to enable it for the RELATE site to function properly.

This warning does not mean that you will have problems on the site, but if you do, you may need to use one of the supported browsers:

The following browsers are not officially supported, but generally work fine as well:

What if I need help interpreting my RELATE Report?

If you need help interpreting your RELATE Report, click HERE for a list of trained facilitators.

These facilitators are trained to answer specific questions regarding the RELATE Report.

If you have technical questions, please contact The RELATE Institute Customer Service.