by: Brian Fong

Q. It seems that no matter what magazine I am reading there is always some new relationship quiz being published. Aren't these a bunch of baloney?

A. Well, even baloney has a purpose if you're looking for a quick sandwich. The honest answer is that it depends upon the quiz.

A relationship quiz that is written by a certified relationship professional, such as a licensed marriage counsellor or a psychologist, has a better chance of providing insight to a relationship than does one that is written by a magazine writer who was told to fill 1200 words of white space with a relationship quiz.

Of course, like anything else, garbage in, garbage out. What I mean is that no matter how structured or professional a relationship quiz is, the answers can be skewed by answering the questions dishonestly. So, if you're one of those people who want to "read their partner's mind" by having them take a relationship quiz, the chances are that the savvy partner is going to answer with whatever THEY think YOU want the answer to be.

A relationship quiz works best when you take it by yourself and you answer every question honestly. It's imperative that you keep in mind that these quizzes, and their corresponding "correct" answers, are written for a generic audience and the results may not be typical of your personal circumstances.

Here's a real honest "for example". My wife and I are very Italian and we both have a quick "Roman" temper. When one of us lights the spark in the other one, we can go from peaceful to a full-fledged screaming and ranting argument in under 1 minute. Twenty minutes later, it's all over and you'd never know it happened. Now, it's very likely that if either of us took a quiz that centered on disagreements and how they are handled, the end results would be: RUN AWAY! But let me tell you this, after 20 years together, we're both still very much in love and everyone in our lives knows it!

My point here is that while a relationship quiz might be fun to take, don't call a lawyer, or a preacher, simply because you "passed" or "failed" it. Love is far too complicated to base your future on the results of a relationship quiz.