How you can take the viral TikTok BDSM test and what it all means

If you enjoyed taking the TikTok color personality test, wait ’til you learn about the test that guides you to explore your kinks and get a visual breakdown of all the things you might not even know you’d enjoy in bed.

TikTokers like @aw00ga66 and @brimcgreer are taking a resurfaced “online kink test” and sharing their results to the social media platform’s safe space for the BDSM community, commonly known as #kinktok. Related hashtags like #kinktestchallenge, #kinkchallenge, and #kinktestresults are getting more than half a million views combined.

TikTok users like @aw00ga66 are sparking conversation.

Credit: Screenshot: @aw00ga66 / TikTok

@brimcgreer reacts to the test results.

Credit: Screenshot: @brimcgreer / TikTok

Responding in the comments section of @brimcgreer’s video, people said things like, “I gotta retake that. I’ve changed since my last one”; “I have no 100% but I also have no 0% and I don’t know how to feel”; and “I got 100% switch” — which means someone who switches between submissive and dominant behaviors depending on the context.

While many TikTok users refer to the quiz as the “Kink Test,” it’s formally called the BDSM test, and it’s been around a lot longer than the latest viral TikTok trend. It was created in 2014 with the mission of making “a simple, accessible test to help beginning kinksters determine which labels are or aren’t suitable for them and to be a fun experience for everyone taking it, beginners and experts alike.”

The BDSM test has become established in the kink/fetlife community because it helps beginning kinksters find out which BDSM archetypes may or may not be their thing. 

A mini-lesson on BDSM

You may have already gotten an idea of what BDSM is through its representations in pop culture like Fifty Shades of Grey and Rihanna’s S&M video, but here’s what it means in real life. BDSM is an umbrella term for sex acts that fall under the categories of Bondage/Discipline, Domination/Submission, and Sadism/Masochism. The acronym BDSM can be divided further into these categories: 

• Bondage: The act of restricting a partner’s freedom of movement with ropes, ties, handcuffs, or other restraints 

• Discipline: Agreed-upon rules and punishments for a dominant partner to exert control over a submissive partner

• Dominance: The act of showing dominance over a physical partner, either during sex or outside of the bedroom

• Submission: The act of showing submission to the dominant partner’s actions and wishes

• Sadism: Refers to pleasure that a partner may feel from inflicting pain

• Masochism: Refers to pleasure that a partner may feel from receiving pain

Though BDSM tends to be misunderstood and misinterpreted by the general population, it contains many common fantasies, like multi-partner sex and experimenting with power dynamics through role play. According to a 2016 survey of about 1000 people published in The Journal of Sex Research, nearly 47 percent of women and 60 percent of men have fantasized about dominating someone sexually. 

So, how do you take the BDSM test?

First, visit bdsmtest.org. You can take the free BDSM test anonymously, or you can share your email and register an account with the website. Prior to taking the test, you’ll be prompted to answer general questions about your age, gender, and sexual orientation. You’ll have the option to select shorter or longer versions of the test, depending on your interest in BDSM. You’ll also be offered a way to filter out some questions that are aimed at either submissives and masochists or dominants and sadists, if you already know that’s not your thing. The demographic and basic information questions take about a minute to fill out. Then you’ll be ready to start the test, which takes about 15 minutes to complete. 

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During the quiz, each question is formatted as a statement. You rate each statement — like “Feeling physically overpowered is one of the most liberating sexual feelings” or “I would like to have sex with multiple people at the same time” — on a 100% scale, ranking how much you agree with it, from “absolutely disagree” to “absolutely agree,” with the middle option being “neutral/no opinion.” 

After answering the questions, you’ll get your results in the form of percentages that correspond to the 26 categories being ranked. For example, on the higher end, you may get 100 percent “voyeur” (someone who gets gratification by watching sexual acts) or 80 percent “switch.”

On the neutral end of the spectrum, you could get 50 percent “sadist” (someone who enjoys inflicting certain types of pain on others in a sexual context) or 43 percent “rope bunny” (someone who likes to be tied up and restrained using rope, chains, cuffs, spreader bars, etc).

Remember, the BDSM test is just for fun. Don’t get hung up on your results if they aren’t indicative of how you feel about your sex life in real life.

On the lower end of the spectrum, you may score 5 percent “brat” (someone who playfully pushes their dominant’s buttons by misbehaving in order to be “punished” by their dom) or 2 percent “degradee” (someone who like to be degraded and humiliated by their partner in the bedroom). If you’re unsure what certain terms mean, the BDSM test includes a page with definitions for each archetype here.

Remember, the BDSM test is just for fun. Don’t get hung up on your results if they aren’t indicative of how you feel about your sex life in real life. Though the test is often referred to as the kinky version of the Myers-Briggs personality test, neither test is scientific or definitive. Some people may find that their results represent them exactly; others may wonder how in the world they got the scores that they did. And some people may get a high score in a category they’ve never heard of and then take it upon themselves to explore it. Even then, it still might not be something they enjoy in the bedroom.

The BDSM test is a starting point for more conversations — and that’s a good thing

Due to the lack of comprehensive sex education in America’s education system and general stigma regarding human sexuality, our society isn’t the most sexually literate. But the fact that BDSM is being discussed on TikTok to the point where the #kinktok hashtag has gained 7.2 billion views — not to mention the numerous videos including both informative and silly kink-themed content — says a lot about shifting generational perspectives toward sex. People have tons of questions and curiosities about how their bodies receive pleasure, and for many, Tiktok has become the digital space to delve into sexual self-discovery and sex positivity.

The author’s BDSM test results.
Credit: Screenshot: BDSM test

Unfortunately, Tiktok isn’t perfect. Due to its community guidelines, a lot has been censored when it comes to sex education of any kind, and the same can be said for social media platforms like Tumblr, Instagram, and Facebook. If Tiktok’s algorithm senses that a topic is “inappropriate” (a category many sex ed videos fall into, despite most of them being educational or comedic rather than explicit), that specific content may get restricted on the app and will get lower views, fewer likes, fewer shares, and less engagement overall.

In order to prevent a video from getting banned on the app, some TikTokers have resorted to spelling words like “porn” and “sex” incorrectly and avoiding relevant hashtags like #sex, #sexed, or #sexualhealth. Because “adult nudity and sexual activity” goes against TikTok’s guidelines, that puts kinky content at risk of getting banned as well. 

There’s a ways to go until we have a truly sex positive society, but it’s reassuring to see younger millennials and Gen Z proudly pushing back and continuing to revolutionize the way our society discusses sex. They’re tired of feeling like they can’t talk about topics that are integral to the human experience, so they’re creating safe spaces to openly discuss sexual topics. In doing so, they’re not only acquiring more knowledge about their own pleasure but also helping to de-stigmatize topics in human sexuality that many still view as taboo — one BDSM test at a time.

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