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AIS-12 Asexuality Identification Scale test


skepa

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48 for me 14 for my boyfriend

 Seems accurate for how we both feel. I'm gray asexual. He identifies as highly sexual

 

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I got 46/60 but son of these were hypothetical. I don't really go through great lengths to avoid sex because I don't have to so I gave myself a 3. That being said I could see that being higher if it was ever tested.

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I think the AIS is pretty good, especially in light of subsequent applications where it has:
1. Reliably distinguished self-identified asexuals from people with HSDD (including people with lifelong HSDD).
2. Produced a gradient of scores from nonlibidoist to libidoist to autochorissexual asexuals (a logical result, although it might annoy some identity politics types).
3. Reliably distinguished self-identified asexuals from a sexual control group in a Chinese sample (suggesting cross-cultural applicability, despite the limitation that the scale was originally developed using an AVEN-based sample).

It should be kept in mind that results on the scale are probabilistic rather than deterministic. Like if you score 12 then you're probably sexual, and if you score 60 then you're probably asexual, but if you score 35 versus 45 it's more borderline. There will also be people whose particular experiences of (a)sexuality render them outliers, and thus for whom the scale might not work as well. For example, the research on fantasy and masturbation has found that BDSM/fetish provides one of the greatest areas of overlap between asexual and sexual people, and I can see how if you're an asexual who is into BDSM you might answer some of the questions in a way that would lower your score (i.e. indicate that you're less asexual).

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I also wondered about questions 1 and 5 - are they meant to distinguish being people in general (or multiple people?) vs. one specific person?

Regarding question 6. I'm not confused; seems like it would be pretty natural for people who are interested in sex to put some time and thought into it. Also, I don't really even know how much time and thought people do put into it, and don't really care. It's none of my business.

Question 9, relieved? Told? I don't need anyone to tell me I don't need to participate in sex.

Question 10, I don't go to great lengths to avoid situations where sex might be expected of me; because I don't need to go to great lengths. I have rarely ever had to. I just live my life and don't have situations arise where sex might be expected of me. :P

Just going by the page with the scale on it - it would be good if they included definitions for some of the terms, such as sexual activity and sexual attraction. Who wants to read through the paper to find those? :P

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6 hours ago, daveb said:

it would be good if they included definitions for some of the terms, such as sexual activity and sexual attraction.

There was a mention of what sexual activity included at the top of the test. I think one of the strengths of the test however is how they don't define sexual attraction, and let the user try to understand it themselves based off of their own interactions with society.

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11 minutes ago, skepa said:

There was a mention of what sexual activity included at the top of the test. I think one of the strengths of the test however is how they don't define sexual attraction, and let the user try to understand it themselves based off of their own interactions with society.

Well, it doesn't really define it. It just says

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

And says nothing about whether they mean partnered sex. Personally I would not include caressing per se as sex or sexual activity (except maybe it's referring to caressing erogenous zones like genitals or breasts, and even then really only as a precursor to sex itself; in other words, foreplay). Caressing could also mean something as non-sexual as stroking someone's hair, for example. If that's one of the reasons they said "may include" then maybe they could have been clearer.

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Fantastic Name

I got a 57/60. I will agree with pretty much everyone else about the vagueness of some of the questions and the test's weird definition of "sexual activity". I also didn't really like how they assumed sex-repulsion to be a universal ace trait, even though I am sex-repulsed myself.

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4 hours ago, Fantastic Name said:

I got a 57/60. I will agree with pretty much everyone else about the vagueness of some of the questions and the test's weird definition of "sexual activity". I also didn't really like how they assumed sex-repulsion to be a universal ace trait, even though I am sex-repulsed myself.

Well that's the point I think, many of the questions don't apply to everyone, but each of the questions do have positive correlations with asexuality, so as long as you are answering 4/5s to many of them. i.e. a high score(40+) is a relatively good indication of Asexuality, not specifically just a 57+

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Got a 43 out of 60...maybe I'm even more ace than I thought :D

 

Thanks for posting OP! Interesting test! 

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5 hours ago, Telecaster68 said:

If you're having to try to figure it out, it's a pretty good sign you're not feeling sexual attraction in itself.

This is a good point.

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8 hours ago, Telecaster68 said:

I think the slight vagueness compared to AVEN's obsession with hairsplitting definitions is also a strength. As a sexual, I didn't have to ponder what sexual activity means at all, because I know intuitively whether something is sexual or not. If you're having to try to figure it out, it's a pretty good sign you're not feeling sexual attraction in itself.

Maybe that should be the basis of one of the questions? :lol: 

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Apart from grouping the questions into certain categories there is not much intention involved in choosing the questions. The questions chosen were just the ones that fitted the model best. Factor analysis can detect underlying correlations that are not directly visible in a question. For example a question like "do you like tomatoes?" could theoretically reveal more about the preference for pasta than for ketchup.

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SunflowerKit

I got 34. I'm somewhere on the grey-a spectrum so that makes since though. I used to identify as pansexual and now I'm just a ?

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Guest Deus Ex Infinity
On 5.4.2018 at 8:55 PM, 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:

 

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.

Me too. Total score: 24/60. It's clear that I'm not 100% ace. So?

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46 for me.

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NickyTannock
I'm going to be the only one who got 60, aren't I?

I don't know whether I should feel proud or ashamed, but I do feel like the odd one out again.
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1. 4
2. 5
3. 5
4. 4
5. 4
6. 5
7. 5
8. 5
9. 5
10. 5
11. 5
12. 5
- Asexual
Total: 57/60

 

Not surprised though.

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The Gnat (Natalie)

I didn't read every comment in here, so maybe someone's already said this, but I took this quiz at least once before I realized I was ace and hated it. And I still find it kind of annoying for the same reason: If someone's trying to figure out if they're asexual, asking them 'do you experience sexual attraction?' as the first question is so unhelpful! Like, bitch!! That's why I'm here! I don't know! If I thought I had a sound understanding of what sexual attraction was and whether or not I was experiencing it, I would not be Googling 'asexuality quiz!' 

 

I know it serves a purpose (and that your answer to that one question isn't going to screw with your overall result that much), but I see this quiz touted as a way for people to figure out their own sexuality, and I don't think it's useful for that. I think it's a good way to objectively categorize people as allosexual, asexual, or somewhere in between for research purposes, but I think it's silly to act like this is going to magically reveal anything to somebody who's questioning their sexuality.

 

Ok. Rant over. 

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everywhere and nowhere

@The Gnat (Natalie), I agree. And generally I repeat: for me the AIS-12 is too obvious. As for example the Milgram experiment shows, results are most credible when people don't know what is actually being analysed.

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The Gnat (Natalie)

@Telecaster68 I totally agree, and I definitely get that it serves a purpose. I just get frustrated because I see a lot of misinformation spread about its purpose. When I was questioning, my big issue was not understanding what sexual attraction really is (which I see now is an understandable problem for somebody who's never felt it), and this assessment can't necessarily help with that, but people act like it can.

 

Obviously, like you say, an objective assessment like this is important if you want to do valid research related to sexuality. I'm just irritated by all the misinformation spread about the purpose of the AIS-12 because I think it leaves a lot of people frustrated for no reason.

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I got a score of 42/60 and I'm gray-sexual.

It would be interesting to ask a few of my sexual female friends to do this test - some of them have an attitude towards sex that can be summed up "ehhh... he keeps pestering me all the time and I'm fed up" but I'm sure they'd still choose strong sexual attraction (just maybe - sadly - not towards their partners) and they'd not be content with a sexless life... or maybe they would? Maybe there are more women in the gray area. 

That's the question :)  

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  • 2 weeks later...
-satellite-

I got 54/60, which is definitely higher than I expected. I love the idea of an ace assessment for self-identification/clarity purposes, but I agree with other people here that the questions on here are way too limited and don't account for the varying "flavors" of aces. I'd love to see an expanded version!!

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everywhere and nowhere
On 25.04.2018 at 11:50 AM, InariYana said:

I got a score of 42/60 and I'm gray-sexual.

It would be interesting to ask a few of my sexual female friends to do this test - some of them have an attitude towards sex that can be summed up "ehhh... he keeps pestering me all the time and I'm fed up" but I'm sure they'd still choose strong sexual attraction (just maybe - sadly - not towards their partners) and they'd not be content with a sexless life... or maybe they would? Maybe there are more women in the gray area. 

That's the question :)  

I'm pretty sure that the most commonly given number of asexuals - 1% - is quite seriously understated.

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verymelancholic

I consider myself demi/darkgray and I got a score around 37-40. So I guess I’m really asexual according to the test?

 

My answers:

1. 3

2. 4

3. 4

4. 2

5. 4

6. 4

7. 4

8. 2 / 3

9. 2 / 3

10. 3 / 4

11. 2

12. 3

- Straight Ace

 

* Answers 8-10 fluctuate a bit for me.

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Some of the questions in the test aren't properly framed and seem to be ambiguous in nature. Also, I didn't get any helpful information by taking this test. I got about 47/60 and I am a gray-ace. Some questions did confuse me to some extent. 

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scarletlatitude

Ha 46... so asexy. :P 

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1. 2 (Seeing a naked man turns me on. Also reading about intimacy between men turns me on.)

2. 5 (However, the moment anyone starts engaging in sexual ACTIVITY, I'm turned off.)

3. 5 (I can't be _____sexual if I have no interest in sex.)

4. 3 (It neither repulses me nor interests me. It's about as fun as kicking a can or any other activity people do when they are bored. Sex is worthless.)

5. 4 (This one is a bit of a trick question. If they are [see question 1] then I am attracted but it is so rare to find men like that, especially in the real world. Porn doesn't work because they engage in ACTIVITY that turns me off.)

6. 5 (Even if sex provided a few moments of bliss, people act like sex is a drug that they sell their soul to acquire.)

7. 4 (Mostly nonsexual.)

8. 5 (Sex has been an obstacle to intimacy. Sex has caused more problems than it's worth. Why did God create sex?)

9. 5 ([see question 8])

10. 5 (I tell women that I'm gay and I tell men that I'm straight. When guys tell me how lucky I am because I'm often surrounded by women, I want to kill those guys.)

11. 5 (My ideal relationship would involve sleeping (literally sleeping, snoring, unconscious) together.

12. 4 (I do still have hormonal urges. I've sought medical help to get rid of my hormonal urges only to have doctors perplexed because they think I should increase my hormonal urges.)

 

So 52 out of 60. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Gave the test a go for fun. I also found a lot of the questions kind of hard to answer but I'm noticing that to be the trend with anyone who identifies in the grey area.

1. 2 or 4? (This one was hardest to answer for me as I almost felt 'somewhat true' and 'somewhat false' almost say the same thing? Like, does only ever being sexually attracted to one other person make this statement somewhat true or somewhat false?)

2. 4

3. 4

4. 4

5. 4

6. 4

7. 3

8. 5

9. 3

10. 4

11. 4

12. 3

Total: 44-46

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