Same remark, two responses: one person shrugs it off, another carries it for weeks. The Tendency for Interpersonal Victimhood (TIV) captures that difference — a stable tendency to feel like the victim across different kinds of relationships. This test uses the 22-item scale published by Gabay, Hameiri, Rubel-Lifschitz and Nadler (2020), covering four facets: how much you need acknowledgment and apology after being hurt, a sense of moral superiority where your kindness gets exploited, reading people who are upset with you as self-serving, and rumination over past injustices. You get a score for each facet plus an overall picture. 22 items, about 5 minutes.

What is interpersonal victimhood?

Two people hear the same remark. One shrugs it off. The other carries it for days, replaying every word, waiting for an apology that never comes. That gap is what this test looks at.

Interpersonal victimhood isn't about whether you were actually hurt. It's a pattern of seeing yourself as the wronged party across many relationships — even when the people around you don't see it that way.

What it measures

The TIV (Tendency for Interpersonal Victimhood Scale) splits into four dimensions:

  • Need for recognition — you need the person who hurt you to admit it and apologize
  • Moral elitism — you see yourself as more moral than others and feel your goodwill gets taken advantage of
  • Lack of empathy — you read people who upset you as self-centered and unwilling to own their mistakes
  • Rumination — you keep going back over the unfairness done to you
It's a 22-item scale rated on a 7-point agreement scale, built by Gabay, Hameiri, Rubel-Lifschitz and Nadler (2020, *Personality and Individual Differences*). Higher scores mean a stronger tendency. The scale holds together well (Cronbach's alpha around .90–.93) and is fairly stable over time (test-retest r = .77 over three weeks).

A note on scores

There's no single clinical cutoff for this scale. A high score doesn't make you a bad person — it points at a pattern that can quietly strain relationships, and it's the sort of thing that responds well to reflection or therapy.

This is a self-report tool, not a diagnosis. If the result resonates and it's weighing on your relationships, it's worth talking to a professional.

Result Interpretation

After completing the 22 questions, you'll receive an immediate, detailed report with:

  • Your score — calculated automatically based on your responses
  • Score interpretation — what your score means in practical terms
  • Dimension breakdown — separate scores for each sub-scale
  • Context — how your results compare to general population norms where available

All results are displayed on screen. No account or login needed.