Purity test
From Free net encyclopedia
A "purity test" is intended to measure the user's percentage of "purity", or non-exposure, to a certain field. The name derives from virginity tests which have historically been practiced in many sexually restrictive cultures and are still practiced in some nations today. The oldest and most common purity tests are intended to measure sexual purity. There are hundreds of different purity tests on nearly every possible subject imaginable, from sex to computers to Gilligan's Island. Purity tests are closely related to (and possibly the ancestor of) online personality tests.
Most purity tests have possible scores anywhere from 0 to 100%. Purity tests ask numerous (sometimes embarrassing) questions of their users, most commonly about the use of drugs, alcohol, and illicit substances; sexual acts with members of the opposite or same sex; or the above actions in an odd or "kinky" context. These tests typically can have anywhere from 50 to 2000 questions.
Most popular among people aged 13-40, purity tests are the subject of much discussion and quite a few parties (one person reading a purity test aloud while others mark down their 'yeses' for later tabulation). It is common to post purity test scores in online profiles, discuss them with friends, and even plan to 'improve' them, using the purity test itself as a 'checklist' of things to do/try.
Purity tests are also a quick way to get anonymous information about the denizens of the Internet. One purity test is actually an AI experiment attempting to identify the test-taker's gender by the answers given to certain questions.
The most well-known purity test is The Unisex Purity Test (or, simply, the Purity Test — note the capitalization). First written sometime before 1982 in the MIT Baker House, this first incarnation had two parallel versions, 100 questions each; one for male, and one for female. The next iteration (247 questions, written Spring 1983) heralded the merging of the gendered versions, making it actually unisex. Over the next decade or so, many re-writes and expansions in many locations throughout the United States commenced, with the most recent known version being 2000 questions long (written in the Fall of 1995).
Though most purity tests are sexual in nature, ones measuring purity in other areas are also available, such as the *Literary Geek Purity Test
Purity tests are easily obtained using any search engine.
See also
External links
- The Unisex Purity Test Most recent 'officially sanctioned' Purity Test
- The Armory — Repository of purity tests on various subjects
- The Unisex, Omnisexual Purity Test
- The Gigantic Sexual Purity Test