Can You Retake the eHarmony Compatibility Quiz?

Usually not. eHarmony says that ideally you should not retake the Compatibility Quiz, although you can ask Customer Care for a retake when you renew Premium. The exception is members who have been moved to the shorter version of the quiz. eHarmony encourages them to retake it from Data & Settings or from a suggested partner's Compatibility tab. It takes about 20 minutes.

The quiz is how eHarmony works out who you are likely to be compatible with. It is supposed to describe you as you are, which is why the site does not want it taken over and over.

Think about what a second attempt usually looks like. A man gets suggested partners he does not like, decides the quiz got him wrong, and answers the second time as the man he thinks women want. The results then describe somebody else. So he gets suggested partners for somebody else, which is a worse outcome than the one he started with.

If you have a genuine reason, the route is Customer Care at the point you renew Premium. Genuine reasons look like this. You rushed the first attempt late at night. You misread a whole run of questions. Or your life has changed in a real way since you took it, like a move to another city, a divorce, or a clear shift in what you want from a relationship.

When you contact them, say briefly what went wrong the first time. A clear reason is much easier to act on than a vague sense that you do not like your results.

Wanting more suggested partners is not one of them. That is a settings question, and the settings are yours to change without asking anyone. Widening your Member Preferences does more for the size of your pool than a second quiz ever could.

eHarmony has a shorter version of the Compatibility Quiz, and members who have been moved onto it are encouraged to retake it. There are two ways in. You can start it from Data & Settings, or from the Compatibility tab while you are looking at a suggested partner.

Set aside about 20 minutes and do it in one sitting, somewhere quiet. This is the one retake eHarmony actively invites, so treat it seriously rather than squeezing it between two meetings.

Answer it fresh rather than trying to remember what you said last time. The point is an accurate picture of you as you are now, and your life may have moved on since the first attempt.

Whether it is your first attempt or your retake, answer as the man you are on an ordinary Tuesday, not the man you are in your best week. If you are a homebody who likes one good dinner out on a Saturday, say so. The women who suit that life are the ones you want on your list.

a dating coach makes the same point about every dating site: what you write shapes who you attract. If your answers read like a man looking for something casual, casual is what you get. If they read like a man who wants something long-term, that is who answers. eHarmony leans heavily toward people who want something serious, so being honest about what you want matters even more here than elsewhere.

The quiz is the one part eHarmony wants left alone. The rest of what you put on the site can be edited whenever you like, and that is where most men have the most room to improve.

Read your written answers as a stranger would. My point is that general claims fade into the background while specific pictures stick. "I enjoy the outdoors" tells her nothing. One sentence about the weekend you spent walking a stretch of coast with a tent on your back gives her an image and something to ask you about.

The quiz decides who eHarmony puts in front of you. It does not decide whether she opens your page, likes what she sees, or answers what you send.

Those come down to your photos, your written answers and your first message. If you are getting suggested partners and nothing comes of them, a second quiz will not change that. A sharp, current photo of your face and a few answers she can picture will. Fix those first, and the quiz results you already have will start turning into conversations, and then into dates.