Guides

The BDSM test: what it is and what your results mean

The BDSM test is a free online quiz at bdsmtest.org that asks how much you agree with a series of statements and turns your answers into percentages for kink types: dominant, submissive, switch, brat and around twenty more. It's been taken, by its own count, by more than 100 million people, and it went viral on TikTok in 2021. It's also not a scientific test. Here's how it works, what the results mean, how far to trust them, and what to do with yours.

What the BDSM test is

The site describes itself as a fun and educational test to find out what kind of kinkster you are, founded in 2014 with the aim of helping beginners see which labels fit them and which don't. Its creator has chosen to remain anonymous. The site calls itself a near-zero-budget, volunteer-run project; its privacy policy names the operator as a Belgian company, Kink in the Cable BV, based in Ghent.

The test is adults only, and free. Its main commercial link is a dating app, BeeDee, launched in 2023 in collaboration with the test, which matches people partly by their results.

How it works

You're shown a long series of statements and asked to what extent you agree with each one, on a seven-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree, with an option for "no idea". Coverage of the test describes a short version that takes about ten minutes and a long version of around twenty-five.

At the end you get a list of archetypes with a percentage beside each, showing how strongly your answers matched it, from 0% to 100%. The percentages don't add up to 100 and aren't a ranking against other people; they're separate scores for each label. Most people get high scores on several, which is part of the point. Kink rarely fits one box.

What the result types mean

A version of the result list archived in 2021 had 25 types; the current list needs an account to see in full. The ones people ask about most:

• Dominant and submissive. Enjoying being in control, or giving it up. The most common pair, and the core of femdom.
• Switch. Enjoying both sides, sometimes with different partners or moods.
• Brat and brat tamer. The test describes brats as, in essence, naughty submissives, who resist on purpose; brat tamers enjoy putting them back in their place.
• Master or mistress, and slave. Power exchange taken further, with rules and service.
• Owner and pet. A caring, possessive dynamic, sometimes with role play.
• Sadist and masochist. Enjoying giving or receiving pain, by agreement.
• Rigger and rope bunny. Tying, or being tied, often with an interest in rope as an art.
• Degrader and degradee. Giving or receiving degrading words and treatment.
• Experimentalist, voyeur, exhibitionist, vanilla. Curiosity, watching, being watched, and conventional tastes.

How accurate is it?

Treat it as a conversation starter, not a diagnosis. The test's scoring method and structure have never been published. A 2023 University of Tartu research paper that examined it found the scoring and factor structure unknown, and judged the test mostly unsuitable as a research tool. A peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Homosexuality in 2023 did analyse 236,353 test profiles, and concluded that no simple binary or single spectrum works as a kink typology, which is a useful finding in itself. And as of 2024, researchers writing in the Journal of Sex Research noted that no validated instruments exist to measure kink desire and practice at all.

There's also a well-known psychological effect worth knowing about. People tend to rate general descriptions of themselves as accurate, the so-called Barnum effect, which may be part of why results feel uncannily right. And a high score doesn't mean you have to do anything. As one counsellor put it in coverage of the test, if you test high in an area that doesn't interest you, you don't have to do that kink.

Your data and privacy

A test about your sex life collects some of the most sensitive data there is; European data protection law classes information about a person's sex life as a special category with extra protection. You can take the BDSM test without an account, and deleting an account anonymises your results, according to the site. Each result gets an ID that can be shared and compared, so treat that ID like anything else private: anyone holding it can look at your result.

The same rule applies to any kink quiz, and there are many copycats with similar names. Use the original if you use one at all, don't sign in with an account tied to your real identity, and don't post your result with your face or name attached.

Your result and femdom

If you've landed on this site, the two scores you probably care about are submissive and dominant. A high submissive score suggests you'd enjoy handing control to someone else; it doesn't say how, or to whom. Look at the scores around it for the detail. Submissive with masochist points toward impact and pain. Submissive with degradee points toward humiliation. Submissive with experimentalist suggests you'd enjoy trying a bit of everything with someone who leads well.

Your top three results also make a handy shorthand with a partner or a cam mistress. "Submissive, brat, experimentalist" tells a dominant woman a lot in four words, and she'll know how to read it, though she'll still ask about your limits.

What researchers use instead

Because nothing validated existed, researchers have started building their own measures. In 2024 a team writing in the Journal of Sex Research developed an 18-item Kink Orientation Scale for exactly that reason. It's a research instrument rather than a consumer quiz, but its existence tells you something: until recently, the most popular kink test in the world was also the only one most people had heard of, and nobody knew exactly how it worked. If your result raises bigger questions about your relationships or your feelings, the US National Coalition for Sexual Freedom has kept a directory of kink-aware professionals since 2006.

Better ways to explore your kinks

The test is a good first prompt. These go further:

• A kink list. A yes, no, maybe list makes you decide activity by activity rather than archetype by archetype. Our kink list guide explains how to use one.
• Talking it through. Comparing results with a partner is more useful than the results themselves. Where you both score high is where to start; where only one of you does is where to talk.
• Trying it, gently. A low-stakes experience teaches you more than any score. Watching how a dominant woman runs a room on cam, or booking a short, mild private, will tell you quickly whether the submissive score meant anything.

Whatever you try, set limits and a safeword first; the limits guide shows how. And if your result left you wondering which side of the whip you belong on, the strip at the top of this page shows dominant women live now. Ten minutes in free chat will tell you more than any score.