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Methodology

How the KinkType Questionnaire Works

An original questionnaire for private reflection. This page explains the topics, how your answers are summarized, and what the research does and does not support.

24-question reflection · September 26, 2026

Eight topics for reflection

The eight topics contain different numbers of questions: leading 3, following 3, restraint 2, sensation 4, play 2, context 3, communication 4, and care 3. They organize your responses; they are not established psychological factors.

Leading and agreed control

Decisions, rules, and direction within a BDSM interaction.

Following and handing over control

Letting a trusted partner direct agreed parts of a BDSM interaction.

Restraint

Interest in being restrained and in restraining a partner, considered separately.

Touch and pain

Different kinds of touch, and giving or receiving chosen pain.

Roles and playful resistance

Imagined roles and agreed playful challenges.

Plans and changing roles

How plans, partners, and roles affect what appeals to you.

Communication

Ways of expressing wishes, limits, and check-ins.

Care afterward

The care you would like to give, receive, or have space for after BDSM play.

What you answer

There are 24 questions. The test and quiz links lead to the same questionnaire. There is no time limit and no requirement to have tried any activity.

Choose one of five agreement responses, or select Not sure yet, It depends on the situation, or Prefer to skip. Those three options stay separate from the neutral midpoint.

All questions refer to situations adults freely agree to. Interest is not consent to an activity, and every interaction needs clear boundaries and room to stop.

How your summary is made

Your summary starts with a description of your answers about making or handing over agreed decisions. It then shows examples of interests, lower interests, and open questions. Open each topic to see the original answers and their explanations.

Each statement keeps its own meaning. For example, offering care and receiving care can have different answers. They are not averaged into a care score. No answer adds or subtracts points from another topic.

Descriptions follow fixed rules in your browser: agreement is described as interest, disagreement as lower interest, and neutral, unsure, contextual, and skipped answers stay distinct. Highlights follow a fixed topic order, not a strength ranking. Reflection prompts adapt to the responses inside the topic details. No AI service receives your answers.

Earlier profile descriptions

An earlier version used 41 questions, weighted scores, and a closest-profile match. Its scores were not scientifically validated. The current summary does not reuse that scoring model or convert earlier results, including the first 24-question draft. Revised questions require fresh answers.

Earlier profile descriptions are separate from your current personal summary. The current result page does not recommend or assign those profiles. Its descriptions are based only on your current answers.

What stays on your device

The summary is created in your browser. When browser storage is available, your responses and summary are saved there; otherwise they remain available for this visit only. Opening the summary link on another device does not share your answers.

Analytics record questionnaire version and basic progress, never your answers, response categories, or preferences. See the privacy policy for details.

Research references and limits

These are original questions, not items copied or adapted from a validated scale. The current questionnaire has not undergone independent expert review, user validation, factor analysis, or reliability testing. It is a self-reflection tool for adults, not a psychological assessment.

The Kink Orientation Scale studies engagement, identity, and related topics including sexual communication. The Sadomasochism Checklist studies attraction to and participation in practices, separating dominant and submissive directions. These studies inform some topic choices; neither validates this questionnaire or its eight-topic structure.

Restraint, role play, plans, context, and care are editorial topics included for reflection. The topic coverage, wording, number of items, and rules for summaries are product design decisions, not validated dimensions or an optimal question count.

The scale-development guidance by Boateng and colleagues supports defining concepts, reviewing content, interviewing users about how they understand questions, and empirical testing. Referencing that process does not mean this questionnaire has completed it.

Research you can read

Wignall, L., McCormack, M., Carpino, T., Owens, R., & Barton, T. The Kink Orientation Scale (published online 2024; journal issue 2025). DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2024.2387769.

Weierstall, R., & Giebel, G. The Sadomasochism Checklist (published online 2016; journal issue 2017). DOI: 10.1007/s10508-016-0789-0.

Boateng, G. O., et al. (2018). Best Practices for Developing and Validating Scales for Health, Social, and Behavioral Research: A Primer. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00149.

Common questions

Is this scientifically validated?

No. Some topics have relevant research references, but these original questions and the eight-topic structure have not been scientifically validated.

Why 24 questions?

The 24 questions cover distinct aspects of roles, restraint, sensations, play, context, communication, and care. Topics have two to four questions each. This is a design choice, not a proven optimal length.

Can I like both leading and being guided?

Yes. The two topics are described independently. Agreeing with both is not treated as a contradiction.

What if I am unsure?

Choose Not sure yet, It depends on the situation, or Prefer to skip. These answers are shown directly and do not become a neutral score.

Are the quiz and test different lengths?

No. Both lead to the same 24-question reflection.

See the method in action

Answer the questions and review your responses privately, on your own device.