Systemizing Quotient-Revised

The Systemizing Quotient-Revised (SQ-R) is a self-report questionnaire comprising 75 forced-choice format questions, which is used to assess so-called systemizing cognitive styles. Systemizing is the drive to analyze or construct systems.

• Statements: 75
• Duration: 10–15 minutes
• Type: screening tool
• Authors: Sally Wheelwright & Simon Baron-Cohen et al.
• Publishing year: 2006
• Seminal paper: Predicting Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) from the Systemizing Quotient-Revised (SQ-R) and Empathy Quotient (EQ) (Wheelwright & Simon Baron-Cohen et al., 2006)

Take the test here:

Who the test is designed for

• Adults (age 16+) of average or higher intelligence.

Versions & translations

• The SQ-R is available in many languages
• Also available:
  • Systemizing Quotient (SQ) for Adolescents
  • Systemizing Quotient (SQ) for Children

Taking the test

The SQ-R consists of 75 statements, giving you 4 choices for each statement:

1. Strongly agree
2. Slightly agree
3. Slightly disagree
4. Strongly disagree

Scoring

• Scoring range: 0–150
• Threshold score: 75
  • 81 average male autistic score
  • 78 average female autistic score
  • 80 average suspected male autistic score
  • 75 average suspected female autistic score
  • 70 neurotypical male score
  • 63 neurotypical male score

In the graph below, you can see how autistic (blue) and non-autistic (tan) men (dashed lines) and women (solid lines) score on the SQ-R.

Additional scoring information can be found in the section titled Scoring details.

Validity

The ability of the empathizing–systemizing (E–S) theory to predict autism is under debate. The scores of autistics on the Empathizing Quotient questionnaire and the Systemizing Quotient questionnaire show a significant difference, meaning there is validity to the test.

Discussion

Natalie:

The negative questions were a problem for me, not because they were hard to understand, but because I kept misreading them. In essence, when my brain took out the negative, I realized that my answer was the opposite of what it should be because I had read it as the positive. Aside from that, the statements were simple and clear.

I appreciate that Simon Baron-Cohen has produced several theories as well as tests. However, his tests don’t always test what the names suggest. For example, the Empathy Quotient measures social and communication skills as opposed to empathy. Some of Simon’s theories must be based on his thoughts about autism, rather than based on speaking to autistics.

I scored 44, which was far below either the average autistic or neurotypical scores!

Kendall:

As with other questionnaires, statements regarding whether something is easy or difficult can be hard for me—I have no way to contrast or qualify the point. The options of agree or disagree concerning negative statements I found much easier to make rather than recursive replies such as rarely or always. The wording is clear, concise, and readily understood, making the test quick and simple.

Scoring details

On the following 39 items, ‘strongly agree’ responses score 2 points, and ‘slightly agree’ responses score 1 point:

1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30, 32, 36, 38, 41, 42, 43, 46, 50, 53, 55, 60, 61, 62, 66, 68, 69, 72, 74 and 75.

On the following 36 items, ‘strongly disagree’ responses score 2 points and ‘slightly disagree’ responses score 1 point:

3, 6, 8, 10, 15, 17, 22, 24, 26, 28, 31, 33, 34, 35, 37, 39, 40, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 63, 64, 65, 67, 70, 71 and 73.

Since there were 75 items and each could be scored with a maximum of 2 points, the maximum score on the instrument was 150 and the minimum was zero.

If you are looking for an autism assessment,
have a look at the following post:

Online autism assessments