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AIS-12 Asexuality Identification Scale test


skepa

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Hey everyone, just thought I'd post this up here as the main topic if people find it useful for understanding themselves better, and perhaps for a better understanding of which labels they would like to use for themselves :)

 

In answering these questions, keep in mind a definition of sex or sexual activity that may include intercourse/penetration, caressing, and/or foreplay

 

The test can be found at the bottom of the research paper here:

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7c8a/4bb76bcd16d328419afd6eca26d4a79fabe9.pdf

 

The questionnaire was intended to provide a valid measure independent of whether the individual self-identified as asexual and was developed in several stages, including: development and administration of open-ended questions (209 participants: 139 asexual and 70 sexual); administration and analysis of resulting 111 items (917 participants: 165 asexual and 752 sexual); administration and analysis of 37 retained items (1,242 participants: 316 asexual and 926 sexual); and validity analysis of the final items. The resulting Asexuality Identification Scale (AIS), a 12-item questionnaire, is a brief, valid, and reliable self-report instrument for assessing asexuality. 

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NickyTannock

@skepa Thank you for posting it.

I already know that I'm Asexual, but it will be interesting to see where I am in the Asexuality spectrum.

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Sage Raven Domino

The test defines sexual activity this way:

 

Quote

keep in mind a definition of sex or sexual activity that may include intercourse/penetration, caressing, and/or foreplay.

This probably means that text messaging, cybersex and other remote interactions aren't included, assuming that in-person foreplay only is included (otherwise pretty every activity would qualify as foreplay, as for pretty every activity, there's someone in the world who's turned on by it :D).

 

If one wishes to include remote interaction into the definition of foreplay, then a line has to be drawn somewhere, e.g. I only regard an activity as foreplay if its primary purpose, as intended by the one who administers it, is to arouse a specific person (other than themself) or a specific group of people who're all known to the actor. I.e. posting photos publicly on Instagram doesn't count as foreplay unless someone has asked the author to be done specifically for the asker's pleasure :D

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NickyTannock

Uh, I got all fives.
I don't know how to feel about this.
I was expecting more variance in my answers.

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Alejandrogynous

I didn't care much for this quiz when I first came across it because I thought some of the statements were too ambiguous in what they mean by sex/sexual activity. For instance, "I lack interest in sexual activity" would feel very false for me to say- I have a libido, I masturbate, and I also love sex as a concept. I love discussing it, learning about it, joking about it, fantasizing, etc. I definitely don't lack 'interest' in sexual activity. Similarly, "I would be relieved if I was told that I never had to engage in any sort of sexual activity again"... but I like orgasms, I'd be very sad if someone told be I'd never be able to have one again.

 

After reading some of the recent discussion, I tried it again under the assumption that sex/sexual activity refers only to the act of engaging in sexual activity with a partner, and I like it much better. I just wish it explicitly said that in the quiz.

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Grumpy Alien

I don’t see the point in this quiz, as I don’t think it’s possible to figure out who you are as a person by allocating numbers to your preferences. However, I took it with the following results:

 

1. 2

2. 3

3. 2

4. 1

5. 4

6. 3

7. 1

8. 3

9. 1

10. 1

11. 1

12. 1

- Heterosexual

 

Total: 23 / 60

 

That means nothing to me, tbh.

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25 minutes ago, Graceful said:

I don’t see the point in this quiz, as I don’t think it’s possible to figure out who you are as a person by allocating numbers to your preferences. However, I took it with the following results:

 

Where does it say that knowing one's sexuality helps them figure out who they are as a person? That's a non sequitur right there. Just because you're gay doesn't mean you have a dark sense of humor or abhor dark humor, just because you're straight doesn't mean you like daytime soaps or hate them; of course it doesn't say anything about who you are as a person. It's not meant to. It's meant to be a potential tool to figure out the probability of a person being ace or not, nothing more. I would question how effective it is as providing consistently reliable results through their premise.
For shiggles, here are my answers/score
1. 4

2. 4

3. 5

4. 5

5. 4

6. 3

7. 5

8. 5

9. 5

10. 5
11. 5

12. 5

 - Asexual

 

Total: 55/60

Doesn't mean anything about who I am either, but it does seem to illustrate the difference between us regarding our sexuality, which I think was its sole intent. :Þ

But yeah, it was a fun enough, easy little thing, but my question would be... Is it scientifically sound, tried and tested to reliably indicate the probability of one being asexual or not?

 

One qualm I have is that questions 8 and 9 are basically the same thing, just reworded.

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NickyTannock

I already said that I got all fives, which disappointed me because I was expecting more variation in my answers, which would have been more interesting.
But since we're posting our scores now, I figured why not.


1. 5
2. 5
3. 5
4. 5
5. 5
6. 5
7. 5
8. 5
9. 5
10. 5
11. 5
12. 5
- Asexual

 

Total: 60/60

 

I don't know how to feel about that.

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1 hour ago, Karret said:

Is it scientifically sound, tried and tested to reliably indicate the probability of one being asexual or not?

That's what seems to be the case in the research behind the questions

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268154825_A_Validated_Measure_of_No_Sexual_Attraction_The_Asexuality_Identification_Scale

 

Also 8 and 9 are different in my mind, one is more about indifference and the other is more about repulsion.

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I think this test is bs, to be honest (at least for autochoris people like me). I scored a measly 27.

My comments on the questions:

 

1. I experience sexual attraction toward other people

Sometimes? Mostly if they’re fictional, how do I factor that in?

2. I lack interest in sexual activity

What is “sexual activity”? Does it include masturbation? Does it have to include myself? What if I’m interested in porn, but don’t necessarily want to have sex myself?

3. I don’t feel that that I fit the conventional categories of sexual orientation such as heterosexual, homosexual (gay or lesbian), or bisexual

Not sure what to make of this question ...

4. The thought of sexual activity repulses me

No comment here

5. I find myself experiencing sexual attraction toward another person

Isn’t this the same question as 1? Why ask it again?

6. I am confused by how much interest and time other people put into sexual relationships

Not so much confused as bored, I guess?

7. The term “nonsexual” would be an accurate description of my sexuality

Sexuality features in my life, so I guess that’s a no?

8. I would be content if I never had sex again

How can I possibly answer this if I have never had sex?

9. I would be relieved if I was told that I never had to engage in any sort of sexual activity again

No more masturbation? No thank you.

10. I go to great lengths to avoid situations where sex might be expected of me

What. The Heck. Is this? A situation where sex might be expected of me? Like, a date? Do I avoid dates? Certainly not. I just don’t have any. I don’t think I’m actively avoiding anything.

11. My ideal relationship would not involve sexual activity

Again, how can I know if I’ve never had a relationship/sex?

12. Sex has no place in my life

Like I said above, it does. I’m just not having any.

 

If anyone can help me clarify what this test wants from me, I’ll be glad.

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10 minutes ago, Adachiku said:

If anyone can help me clarify what this test wants from me, I’ll be glad.

Hey yeah, most of the sexual questions pertain towards other people, i.e. masterbation doesn't count as sexual activity, i.e. from the top of the test

 

keep in mind a definition of sex or sexual activity that may include intercourse/penetration, caressing, and/or foreplay.

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Alejandrogynous

Since we're posting scores. This is my score with how I originally interpreted the questions:

 

1. 5
2. 2
3. 3
4. 1
5. 5
6. 2
7. 2
8. 5
9. 1
10. 2
11. 5
12. 3
Total: 36

 

And this is what I get with the assumption that sex/sexuality only refers to the act of engaging in sexual activity with a partner.

 

1. 5
2. 5
3. 4
4. 3
5. 5
6. 2
7. 3
8. 5
9. 5
10. 3
11. 5
12. 5

Total: 50
 

I'm still unsure of how to interpret #4, honestly. "The thought of sexual activity repulses me." Do they mean in general? If so, that's false for me. If they mean the thought of ME personally engaging in sexual activity... maybe? If I try to visualize a sexual act with a partner, in first person POV, there's a definite nope reaction. I still wouldn't call it repulsed but that might just me being pedantic. 

 

And I'm not a fan of #6 either, "I am confused with how much time and interest other people put into sexual relationships." Because... no? Being asexual doesn't mean I'm incapable of empathy or understanding people who are different than me. I'll never see the appeal of football either but I'm not "confused" about why others like it.

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Let's see...

5 + 5 + 4 + 4.5 + 5 + 4.5 + 5 + 5 + 4.5 + 4 + 4.5 + 5 = 56

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27 minutes ago, Alejandrogynous said:

And I'm not a fan of #6 either

yeah that's the only one that I think could be changed as well. Perhaps that questions is meant more for people who are not so interested in sexuality/asexuality XD 

 

or confused being more of, alien to me, or not apart of something I'm interested in.

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Sage Raven Domino
Spoiler

 

1. 4

2. 5

3. 4

4. 4

5. 4

6. 4

7. 5

8. 5

9. 5

10. 3

11. 5

12. 5

Asexual

Score = 53

 

^ My AIS results just for fun.  (I assumed that unpartnered sexual activities don't count, i.e. sexual attraction requires wishing the object to act knowingly as a sexual partner, and is thus a different concept from 'masturbational attraction'.)

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21 minutes ago, Alejandrogynous said:

If they mean the thought of ME personally engaging in sexual activity... maybe?

I also think that is more of what they are going for. 

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Grumpy Alien
3 hours ago, Karret said:

Where does it say that knowing one's sexuality helps them figure out who they are as a person? That's a non sequitur right there. Just because you're gay doesn't mean you have a dark sense of humor or abhor dark humor, just because you're straight doesn't mean you like daytime soaps or hate them; of course it doesn't say anything about who you are as a person.

I think sexual preference plays about as much part of who we are as a person as preferences in humor or television. It’s a small factor in the big picture. I never meant it was the only thing about a human that mattered.

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Alejandrogynous
7 hours ago, ixi said:

The question about sexual orientation doesn't have pansexual,polysexual and queer listed as an option... 

I assume that's because those would also fall under 'unconventional' orientations. 

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Ms. Carolynne

Here's what I got, fwiw

 

 

It's all in spoilers because it glitched and I can't fix it on mobile...

 
  1. 4
  2. 5
  3. 4
  4. 5
  5. 3 (maybe 4)
  6. 5
  7. 5
  8. 5
  9. 3
  10. 5
  11. 5 (maybe 4)
  12. 5

Total 54 / 60
 

 

As for my thoughts...

  1. Went with 4, as I sometimes experience a negligible sexual attraction.
  2. No comment
  3. Odd question, as you don't have to be ace for this to be true.
  4. No comment
  5. Not sure whether I should say sometimes or rarely. It's infrequent, but more frequent than romantic attraction for me.
  6. I would reword this. I wouldn't put the same effort others do for that kind of stuff; I'm not confused by it though, just as I'm not confused by alcoholism simply because I'm not an addict.
  7. No comment
  8. No comment
  9. I'm not sure what this even means, TBH. I've never had to do anything sexual to begin with, or felt the need to do so.
  10. If "great lengths" means I don't pursue it at all, sure, whatever.
  11. Ideally it wouldn't be very sexual, but I might compromise a little to make my partner happy. Overall I'd be focused on the romance.
  12. No comment

 

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On 06/04/2018 at 5:05 AM, invokeLogic said:

The test defines sexual activity this way:

 

This probably means that text messaging, cybersex and other remote interactions aren't included, assuming that in-person foreplay only is included (otherwise pretty every activity would qualify as foreplay, as for pretty every activity, there's someone in the world who's turned on by it :D).

 

If one wishes to include remote interaction into the definition of foreplay, then a line has to be drawn somewhere, e.g. I only regard an activity as foreplay if its primary purpose, as intended by the one who administers it, is to arouse a specific person (other than themself) or a specific group of people who're all known to the actor. I.e. posting photos publicly on Instagram doesn't count as foreplay unless someone has asked the author to be done specifically for the asker's pleasure :D

I definitely included cyber sex and cyber foreplay between two people, because both are done for the exact same purpose as you do them in 'real life' which is to evoke some sort of arousal and/or sexual pleasure.. it's not somehow less valid just because your sexual partner is in a different country or house or whatever :P

 

If you're posting naked pictures of yourself in a general forum that's SLIGHTLY different, but most people wouldn't say dancing naked or streaking naked or whatever would count as sexual activity as it's in the general public. It's more if it's intimate between you and a specific person (be that someone you just met in a chat room or a long term sexual partner) that it counts as foreplay.

 

The only type of sexual activity I've had in the last 7 years is cyber, but it's been more valid to me than a lot of the 'in person' sex I had when I was younger (as I never wanted or enjoyed that!). I've been physically completely celibate (haven't even held hands with a guy in person) but have been very sexually active online. I got 48 by the way (and don't identify as asexual because I'm waaaay too sexual in some ways to be asexual, haha).

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Sage Raven Domino
15 hours ago, ixi said:

The question about sexual orientation doesn't have pansexual,polysexual and queer listed as an option... 

For the purposes of this test, where the authors used a rough classification instead of a fine-grained one, I think that the 'bisexual' option should be treated as 'sexual (or almost sexual) and not monosexual', i.e. as an umbrella term. Also, by 'asexual', they probably meant 'on the asexual spectrum, closer to the asexual end than the sexual one'.

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Sage Raven Domino
20 minutes ago, FictoVore. said:

I definitely included cyber sex and cyber foreplay between two people, because both are done for the exact same purpose as you do them in 'real life' which is to evoke some sort of arousal and/or sexual pleasure.. it's not somehow less valid just because your sexual partner is in a different country or house or whatever :P

 

If you're posting naked pictures of yourself in a general forum that's SLIGHTLY different, but most people wouldn't say dancing naked or streaking naked or whatever would count as sexual activity as it's in the general public. It's more if it's intimate between you and a specific person (be that someone you just met in a chat room or a long term sexual partner) that it counts as foreplay.

I should have clarified why I brought that topic up... AIS-12 reminded me about an argument that I had with Puck 7 months ago. I agree with your assessment.

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On 4/5/2018 at 3:28 PM, skepa said:

That's what seems to be the case in the research behind the questions

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268154825_A_Validated_Measure_of_No_Sexual_Attraction_The_Asexuality_Identification_Scale

 

Also 8 and 9 are different in my mind, one is more about indifference and the other is more about repulsion.

209 participants isn't a lot of people, really. I'm thinking more like... Hundreds of thousands of participants. Or several different studies done and a multi-study study to compare the data from all the studies to see what the general consensus is on a much larger scale.

Ah, I see. They should word it slightly differently, because it easily looks like the same question asked twice, which might be seen as falsely boosting a score. I would see it a little more like an 8.5:
8. Would you feel like you were missing out if you never had sex again?

        8.5. Would you be relieved?


Because they're both relating to your reaction to the idea of never having sex [again]; essentially to what degree, is it like -shrug- yeah sure no problem, or THANK GOD?

Making it a separate question entirely makes it seem like the questions are more different than they are, imo.

 

Also, since I'm not the only one who saw it either, though it was easier for me to spot the difference in it; 1 and 5 should be combined similarly:
1. Do you experience sexual attraction to others?

        1.5. How often do you experience sexual attraction to others?
 

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On 4/5/2018 at 5:51 PM, Graceful said:

I think sexual preference plays about as much part of who we are as a person as preferences in humor or television. It’s a small factor in the big picture. I never meant it was the only thing about a human that mattered.

a) Your first post said you didn't think "allocating numbers to your preferences" says anything about who you are; but you misunderstand the point of "allocating numbers to your preferences" in the first place. That task on its own doesn't serve as anything, it's merely a potential tool for people to figure out their sexuality.

b) Fair enough, it can be a small facet that makes up who one is, but again, figuring out "who you are as a person" is not what the goal of this little quiz thing is; it's simply to see the probability of you being asexual or not. If some people blow it up like that IS the intent, then that's a personal problem on their end.

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What the hell, I'll give it a try.

 

1. 4

2. 4

3. 4

4. 2

5. 4

6. 3

7. 2

8. 5

9. 3(I put 5 at first but then I thought about it and realized "Actually I already know I don't have to engage in sexual activity if I don't want to anyway, so that probably wouldn't be some sort of revelation that would make me feel relieved or anything").

10. 3

11. 2

12. 4

Total: 40

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The aim of the test is to differentiate between the two groups "asexuals" and "sexuals" and the questions are real/actual statements form self-identified asexuals (mostly from Aven) and were chosen based on their statistical quality within a concept of asexuality consisting of 8 dimensions (Sexual Attraction/Desire, Sexual Activity, Sexual Identity, Sex-Related Disgust, Inability to Relate, Disinterest in Sex, Sexual Avoidance, Relationships) as mentioned in the paper which in turn were derived by grouping the statements they got from self-identifies asexuals describing their (a)sexuality. So a higher score at any rate means you are closer to a prototype Aven asexual from the time of the study but not necessarily "more asexual". Questions relating to masturbation, sexual fantasies and arousability were excluded because there is no statistically significant difference (or at least only a negligible one) between self-identiifed asexuals and sexuals on those dimensions so they don't explain much variance within the "concept" of asexuality and are not helpful to differentiated between the groups. So "sexual activity" is not about masturbation here and probably should be read as "sexual interaction" (that problem we probably wouldn't get with the German definition in place).

In the paper the authors state that 93% of self-identifies asexuals score 40+ and 95% of self-identifed sexuals score below that value. So the test should be a rather good measure to differentiate between the two groups based on self-identification. The overall number of participants is enough for statistical analysis although the sample groups introduce some bias. Obviously the bias within the group of self-identifies asexuals can't really be avoided due to the limited size of the population and the conditioning through certain online communities. However the sexuals were also recruited via the internet mainly from craiglist and e.g. they score higher on some scales for mental health issues than the asexual population, especially in the area of abuse and neglect.

btw. a good way to get a score if you are unsure about some questions is to take the test multiple times maybe with some days in between and calculate the mean value.

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everywhere and nowhere

I find the use of the word "again" (like "I would be content if I never had sex again") strange. I believe it should be put in brackets, so that the sentence would be just as open to people who have had sex and to people who haven't. Personally, as a person who has never had sex, I feel somewhat excluded, as if even an "asexuality test" assumes that all people are sexually active.

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everywhere and nowhere

A bit more opinion...

Generally, I'm not really enthusiastic about this test... my primary impression is that it's too obvious.

Someone I know once wrote an interesting text about gender identity tests (not in English, so I won't link to it here) - generally, he described some of the most common tests, their advantages and drawbacks, but also added a lot of theory. I remember one remark - how it is relatively easy to "cheat" a test if you know its purpose. A person could skew their answers to get the result they expected, or not to get the result they are afraid of...

I think that a better "asexuality test" would be one less obvious, kinda hidden among other questions. But this approach could also have its drawbacks. For example, sex-repulsed aces are likely to get the highest scores in this particular test, and some of them could be too uncomfortable with a test for general attitudes about sex and sexuality. Another problem is that it's not so easy to design a sexuality test which would work "seamlessly" both for sexually experienced and sexually inexperienced people. In case of this scale it was just a little annoying omission which could be fixed by writing "(again)" instead of "again", but in large tests it's much more difficult. Actually, one of my first posts on this forum was about measures of sexual orientation and how lots of these questionnaires are simply impossible to answer for a person who has never had sex, as if the authors assumed either that every adult has sex, period, or that a sexually inexperienced person is a tabula rasa and literally has no orientation, so there's no point in testing it...

 

Oh, and a remark by the way. Repeating similar questions is a good way to check if the person taking the test is answering them truthfully. It's a recognized method in psychometry, however, I wouldn't necessarily expect it in a very short test such as the Asexuality Identification Scale.

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As sexual orientation is based on self-identification there is probably no way to measure asexuality unless we give up that notion. Tests that are not dependent on ability (like personality tests) are less objective than ability based tests (like IQ-tests) but sexual orientation can't even be measured in the same way as e.g. intraversion because there in no (more or less solid) core to it that everyone would agree on. A question like "do you like parties?" will correlate with e.g. the dimension "intraversion vs. extraversion" but "do you like kissing?" would not correlate with "asexual vs. sexual" if we believe asexuality to be independent form behavioural preferences.

Also there is no way to effectively counter cheating on tests that are independent from ability. Cheating can (partially) be revealed by inconsistent answers or extra cheating-scales (and it could be revealed with rather high precision by measuring physiological components associated with lying consciously or even subconsciously such as reaction times, brain waves, pupil dilatation, electrodermal activity, etc.) but the result in the end will still be screwed. So generally the best way (in questionnaires) is to just ask whether the person intends to cheat at the beginning of the test and again whether or not he or she has cheated at the end of the test.

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