Indecisiveness Test — Free 9-Question Self-Check for Decision Paralysis

A free indecisiveness self-check: taking forever to pick from a menu, second-guessing after every choice, and handing decisions to others. Nine questions about the past month, roughly three minutes, with a total of 0-27 divided into four bands to see how much indecision is affecting you.

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What's included

Questions: 9 items
Price: Free
Areas measured: Indecisiveness (Difficulty Making Decisions)

When this check is useful

If choosing lunch takes ten minutes, items sit in your online cart for days while you compare, you keep replaying whether another option would have been better, and you end up asking friends or family to pick for you, it is time to look at indecisiveness. This check asks nine questions about lingering over choices, regret and rumination after deciding, and the habit of passing decisions to others, based on how often each happened over the past month.

Deciding carefully is not a problem in itself. It becomes one when small choices drain too much energy, opportunities slip by while you delay, and your mind does not settle even after deciding. Indecisiveness is often tangled up with perfectionism, fear of failure, anxiety, and low self-efficacy. The check is useful if you have been stuck for a long time before a big decision such as a career move, job change, or relationship, if regret after choosing has become a habit, or if deciding without someone else's opinion makes you anxious. The items were written by Soundary with reference to published research; they are not a translation or adaptation of any standardized scale, and the result is a reference self-check.

What to do with your result

You answer 9 items on a 0-3 scale for a total of 0-27. 0-6 is low, 7-13 mild, 14-20 moderate, and 21-27 high. From 14 upward, the key is to work on the anxiety surrounding decisions rather than the decisions themselves. Put time limits on small choices: thirty seconds for a menu, one day for online shopping. When time is up, pick whichever looks better in that moment and move on. Repeating this builds a decision muscle.

For big decisions, write down your criteria before gathering more information. Pick the three things that matter most to you and compare each option on those alone; the endless weighing stops. If rumination after deciding is severe, write one line on why you chose as you did and reread it whenever regret rises. If you score 21 or more, or difficulty deciding keeps causing real losses in study, work, or relationships, anxiety, depression, or obsessive tendencies may lie behind it, so consider seeing a psychiatrist. Recheck after a month, and pair it with the perfectionism, self-efficacy, and anxiety checks to narrow down the cause.

How scores are interpreted

Indecisiveness (Difficulty Making Decisions)

This examines the tendency to delay choices, post-decision regret and repeated checking, reliance on others' opinions, and the feeling of being overwhelmed when there are many options. A higher score indicates a greater burden experienced during the decision-making process. This is not a personality flaw, but an area that can become much more comfortable with help.

0–6pts · Low — Decisions are relatively easy
You appear to finalize your judgments on your own without being significantly swayed when faced with choices. Continue to trust your own standards and make decisions as you do now.
7–13pts · Mild — Occasionally hesitant
You may experience hesitation when faced with important choices, but it does not seem to significantly disrupt your daily life. Practicing setting a deadline for decisions in advance or narrowing down the options to two or three can be helpful.
14–20pts · Moderate — Decisions are frequently burdensome
Repeatedly procrastinating, double-checking, and relying on others may be causing a burden on your life. Try setting a standard for a 'good enough choice' instead of a 'perfect choice' in advance. If this discomfort continues for more than a few weeks, we recommend speaking with a professional.
21–27pts · High — Time to seek help
The burden you experience during the decision-making process is significant and may be affecting your daily life and peace of mind. As these difficulties sometimes appear alongside anxiety, depression, or obsessive checking habits, we recommend consulting a mental health professional. This result is a screening result for reference and not a diagnosis, so please use it as an opportunity to seek help rather than blaming yourself.

Sample questions

1. I keep putting off decisions because I cannot decide what to choose.
2. It takes me a long time to make even trivial choices, like what to eat or wear.
3. Even after making a decision, the thought of 'would the other option have been better?' lingers for a long time.
4. I frequently double-check or review whether I made the right choice about something I have already decided.

Please think about how you have generally been over the past month. Choose the answer that best describes how much each statement applies to you. There are no right or wrong answers, so do not think too long and answer comfortably with what comes to mind. It will take about 3 minutes.

FAQ

From what score is indecisiveness considered high?

On the 9-item total of 0-27, 0-6 is low, 7-13 mild, 14-20 moderate, and 21-27 high. From 14 upward, hesitation and regret around decisions are probably consuming a good deal of your daily energy; at 21 or more, it is worth checking whether anxiety, perfectionism, or depression lies behind it. These bands are reference thresholds set by Soundary, not diagnostic criteria.

Is decision paralysis a real disorder?

Decision paralysis is an everyday expression, not an official diagnosis. Indecisiveness is closer to a personality trait, but in severe cases it can be one face of an anxiety disorder, depression, obsessive tendencies, or ADHD. If failing to decide keeps causing real losses in study, work, or relationships, or decisions bring intense anxiety or sleeplessness, it is worth exploring the background with a professional. This check is a reference self-check for gauging how much it affects you.

Is there a way to become less indecisive?

Yes. For small choices, set a time limit and, when it runs out, pick whichever looks better in that moment and move on; repeat this often. For big decisions, instead of gathering more information, define the three criteria that matter most to you and compare only on those, which stops the endless weighing. Writing one line on why you decided helps when regret surfaces, and the key is to aim for a good-enough choice rather than a perfect one.

Is this a standardized indecisiveness scale?

No. It covers the same topic as standard research instruments such as the Frost Indecisiveness Scale, but its 9 items are a reference self-check developed by Soundary with reference to published literature. It shares concepts such as decision delay, post-decision regret, and decision avoidance, yet the items and bands differ, so do not compare it with standardized scores. The result is a starting point for reflecting on your decision habits, not a diagnosis.

Source

The items in this test are a self-check adaptation based on the original instrument and literature below: Self-check items composed by Soundary with reference to the constructs of indecisiveness research (decision delay, post-decision regret, decision avoidance), including Frost, R. O., & Shows, D. L. (1993). The nature and measurement of compulsive indecisiveness. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 31(7), 683–692. Not a translation or adaptation of the Frost Indecisiveness Scale or any standardized instrument; a screening tool for reference only.

This is a self-screening tool, not a medical diagnosis. If the result concerns you, please consult a mental health professional.