What is your animal archetype? An eighteen-question test

The twelve animals in this test take up the twelve archetypes that the psychologist Carl Jung described and Carol Pearson popularised — the ruler, the innocent, the warrior, the hero, the rebel, the caregiver, the magician, the lover, the sage, the explorer, the creator, the jester —, each lent to an animal that sums it up. Each situation offers you four reactions; choose the one that resembles you most, even if none resembles you entirely. There are no right or wrong answers, and nobody but you will see the result.

At the end: your animal, what it says about the way you love, the trap that goes with it, and the animals you get on with best. Have your partner take it too, then compare — that is where the game gets interesting.

The twelve animals in two lines

• The Lion, the ruler: decides, protects, brings together.
• The Doe, the innocent: trusts, soothes, admires.
• The Wolf, the warrior: loyal, committed, settles what must be settled.
• The Eagle, the hero: aims high, leads the way, needs air.
• The Fox, the rebel: free, clever, allergic to cages.
• The Elephant, the caregiver: takes care, remembers, holds the clan together.
• The Chameleon, the magician: adapts, transforms, senses.
• The Swan, the lover: romantic, faithful, attentive to beauty.
• The Owl, the sage: observes, understands, chooses its words.
• The Dolphin, the explorer: curious, playful, always on the move.
• The Beaver, the creator: builds, practical, reliable.
• The Monkey, the jester: makes people laugh, lightens, sometimes dodges.

Further reading

• What is your attachment style? — the other test, based on research.
• The love compatibility test — for two.
• Is your relationship solid? — twelve situations drawn from what research has measured.
• The twelve zodiac signs — another twelve-box grid, a much older one.

Archetypes are a reading grid, not a validated typology: no test of this kind predicts whether a couple will last, and the same adult changes animal according to the relationship, the moment and how tired they are. Take the result as a mirror that gets people talking, and compare it with your partner’s.