Monotropism test (Monotropism Questionnaire, MQ)
Monotropism describes a mind that tends to pour its attention into a few things at a time, deeply and intensely, rather than spreading it across many. The Monotropism Questionnaire (MQ) has 47 statements about that attention style: intense interests, getting absorbed, the cost of switching, and how it feels to be pulled away from something.
This is not an autism test and not a diagnosis. Monotropism describes a thinking style, with real strengths (depth, flow, expertise) and real costs (abrupt transitions, overload). Autistic people score higher on average, but anyone can recognise themselves in it. The study publishes no cutoffs, so the bands you see are descriptive only.
- 47 statements, about 8 minutes, an average score from 1 to 5
- Garau, Murray, Woods, Chown, Hallett, Murray, Wood and Fletcher-Watson (2023), developed with the autistic community
- Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (monotropism.org, OSF); our Romanian translation is shared under the same licence
- Anonymous, nothing to sign up for
Garau, Murray, Woods, Chown, Hallett, Murray, Wood & Fletcher-Watson, 2023 (preprint)
MQ
A 47-item questionnaire whose items were written by a group of autistic adults from their lived experience (Garau, 2023). It describes the attention style: , the attention tunnel, the need for predictability, transitions and decisions.
"What does this mean?" if a question is not clear, tap this under the question for a plain explanation.
"Not sure about my answer" if your answer is only an approximation, mark it. It does not change the score; it just shows where it may help to come back to it.
47 items, about 8 minutes
Computed on your device, your data stays with you
0 / 470%
Keys 1-5 for quick answer
How much do you agree with each statement, in general?
Monotropism Questionnaire (MQ): Garau V, Murray AL, Woods R, Chown N, Hallett S, Murray F, Wood R, Fletcher-Watson S (2023), osf.io/wpx5g, monotropism.org. Licensed Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0. Not an autism test and not a diagnosis.
After a period of instability, I need a quiet and predictable environment.
I need a quiet and predictable environment for me to switch from one task to another easily.
I often struggle to concentrate in busy and/or unpredictable environments.
I find sudden unexpected disruptions to my attention startling.
It's distressing to be unexpectedly pulled away from something I'm engaged in.
I rarely find simultaneously holding eye contact and making a verbal conversation with another person uncomfortable.
I often notice details that others do not.
Involvement in an activity of interest often reduces my anxiety level.
I find social interactions more comfortable if communicating about a topic of interest to me.
I am often totally focused on activities I am passionate about, to the point I am unaware of other events.
I can get quite good at something even if I'm not especially interested in it.
I often lose sense of time when engaging in activities I am passionate about.
I sometimes avoid talking because I cannot reliably predict how others will react, especially strangers.
I tend to do activities because I find them interesting, instead of due to societal expectations.
I rarely find social situations chaotic.
I don't mind if someone interrupts me when I'm in the middle of an activity.
When I'm working on something, I'm open to helpful suggestions.
I often find it difficult to switch topics after engaging in an activity for a long time.
I often engage in activities I am passionate about to escape from anxiety.
Routines provide an important source of stability and safety.
I manage uncertainty by creating routines.
I often experience anxiety over matters I have little certainty over.
I find it difficult to engage in a task of no interest to me even if it is important.
I often find engaging in stimming (e.g., fidgeting, rocking) to be relaxing.
I am usually passionate about a few topics at any one time in my life.
I have trouble filtering out sounds when I am not doing something I'm focused on.
I usually mean what I say and no more than that.
I often engage in lengthy discussions on topics I find interesting even though my conversational partner(s) do not.
I sometimes accidentally say something others find offensive/rude when I am focused on a task.
I can sometimes be very distressed by a topic that others think of as trivial.
I find it easy to keep up with group discussions where everyone is speaking.
Often when I am focused on activities, I do not notice I am thirsty or hungry.
Often when I am focused on activities, I do not notice I need the bathroom.
When there is a lot of information to consider, I often struggle to make a decision.
Sometimes making a decision is so hard I get physically stuck.
I sometimes focus on an incident for a substantial time (days) after the event.
I sometimes become highly anxious by focusing on the many possible situations that might occur at a future event.
Sometimes when I am focused on an activity, I do not recall all the information I might need to make good decisions.
People tell me I get fixated on things.
I find a problem I can't solve distressing and/or hard to put down.
I tend to feel quite self-conscious unless I'm deeply absorbed in a task.
I often get stuck thinking about all the possibilities that might come out of a decision.
When I am interested in something, I tend to be passionate about it.
When I am interested in a topic, I like to learn everything I can about that topic.
I am still fascinated by many of the things I was interested in when I was much younger.
I rarely find myself getting stuck in loops of thought.
I often loop back to previous thoughts.
0/47 answered, 0%