How the test works

What it is, and what it is not

This is a structured self-reflection tool. It turns your ratings of 75 statements into a score for each of 25 roles, so that you have words for what appeals to you and something concrete to show a partner.

It is not a validated psychological instrument. No kink role test is: the one validated measure in this area, the Kink Orientation Scale (Wignall et al., 2024), measures how kink-oriented someone is overall, not which roles they prefer. A score here describes your answers today. It is not a diagnosis, and it does not predict behaviour.

The questions

• 75 statements, three per role. The standard test asks 36: at least one per role and two for the roles people most often want detail on. The remaining 39 are optional.
• Statements ask about appeal, not experience. “How much does this appeal to you?” lets a curious beginner and an experienced person answer the same question.
• Wording is gender-neutral and non-graphic. No statement assumes your gender, your partner’s, or your orientation. The test is about dynamics, not acts.

The answer scale

Every statement uses the same five options, from “Not at all” to “Extremely”. Research on rating scales finds that reliability improves little beyond five to seven options, and that five is easier for respondents (Simms et al., 2019; Aybek & Toraman, 2022; Preston & Colman, 2000).

“Not sure” is always available and is not scored as zero. If you answer “not sure” to every statement for a role, that role is left out of your result.

Scoring

• Each answer is worth 0 to 4. A role’s score is the average of its answered statements, shown as a percentage.
• Switch is the geometric mean of your Dominant and Submissive scores. It is high only when both are high.
• The headline (Dominant, Submissive, Switch and the leaning versions) comes from the gap between those two scores: within 15 points is Switch, 40 or more is a clear lean.

In the standard test most roles rest on one or two statements, so a single answer can move a score a long way. The full test gives every role three.

Why giving and receiving are separate

In a representative sample of 1,027 Belgian adults, interest in dominant and in submissive activities was strongly correlated (Holvoet et al., 2017). A single dominant-to-submissive scale would place those people in the middle and hide the fact that they like both. Scoring each side on its own keeps that visible.

Why the test is short

In web surveys, a longer stated length reduces the number of people who start and finish, and answers given late in a long questionnaire are faster and less varied (Galesic & Bosnjak, 2009). Respondents say around ten minutes is ideal (Revilla & Ochoa, 2017). So the default is about four minutes, with more available to those who want it.

The roles

The role list follows the vocabulary the kink community already uses. Two choices are ours. Praise giver and Praise receiver are added, because praise is widely discussed and absent from older tests. And the nurturing dynamic is scored as Caregiver and Cared-for and described strictly as something between adults.

How common is kink?

• 46.8% of Belgian adults had done at least one BDSM-related activity; a further 22% had fantasised about one; 12.5% practised regularly (Holvoet et al., 2017).
• Across 60 studies, 40 to 70% of people report kink-related fantasies and about 20% report practice (Brown et al., 2019).
• Nearly half of a Quebec sample reported interest in at least one category that psychiatry has historically labelled unusual (Joyal & Carpentier, 2016).
• Practitioners score no worse than the general population on psychological wellbeing, and slightly better on several measures (Wismeijer & van Assen, 2013).

Estimates vary a great deal with how the question is asked, which is why the ranges are wide.

Privacy by design

Scoring happens in your browser. Your answers are not sent to us, and a result exists only in the link you choose to copy. The details are on the privacy page.

References

• Aybek, E. C., & Toraman, C. (2022). How many response categories are sufficient for Likert type scales? International Journal of Assessment Tools in Education.
• Brown, A., Barker, E. D., & Rahman, Q. (2019). A systematic scoping review of the prevalence, etiological, psychological, and interpersonal factors associated with BDSM. The Journal of Sex Research.
• Galesic, M., & Bosnjak, M. (2009). Effects of questionnaire length on participation and indicators of response quality in a web survey. Public Opinion Quarterly.
• Holvoet, L., et al. (2017). Fifty shades of Belgian gray: the prevalence of BDSM-related fantasies and activities in the general population. The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
• Joyal, C. C., & Carpentier, J. (2016). The prevalence of paraphilic interests and behaviors in the general population. The Journal of Sex Research.
• Preston, C. C., & Colman, A. M. (2000). Optimal number of response categories in rating scales. Acta Psychologica.
• Revilla, M., & Ochoa, C. (2017). Ideal and maximum length for a web survey. International Journal of Market Research.
• Simms, L. J., et al. (2019). Does the number of response options matter? Psychological Assessment.
• Wignall, L., et al. (2024). The Kink Orientation Scale. The Journal of Sex Research.
• Wismeijer, A. A. J., & van Assen, M. A. L. M. (2013). Psychological characteristics of BDSM practitioners. The Journal of Sexual Medicine.