What Is the Rice Purity Test? Meaning, Questions and Score

Rice Purity is the name of a self-assessment with 100 yes-or-no questions about sex, relationships, alcohol, drugs and offenses of varying seriousness. The first version appeared in 1924 in The Rice Thresher, the student newspaper of Rice University in Houston, and the online version used today dates from 2012. Since 2020, the test has been appearing regularly in TikTok videos.

A word of warning: this article deals with sex, drugs and crimes, so it is not suitable for every reader. Out of curiosity, my own score came out at 60, and it would probably be higher if I were younger and single.

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What is the Rice Purity Test?

If you have spent time in forums or group chats, you have probably come across the term. It belongs to a self-report questionnaire that has circulated online for years and is much older than social media. The name comes from Rice University, where the student newspaper published the first list of questions in 1924.

The test consists of 100 statements organized by topic: kissing and dating, sexuality, alcohol, drugs, minor offenses and crimes. You start with 100 points and subtract one point for every statement you answer yes to. A high score means few of the listed experiences apply to you, and a low score means many of them do.

The full score of 100 belongs to someone who checks none of the statements. In everyday language, a high score is often read as "pure" and a low one as "impure," even though the number itself says nothing about that.

The score only measures how many of the listed experiences a person has had. Sexual choices and risky behaviors can matter a great deal to some people, while others may prefer a more conservative sex life. The test works best as an exercise in self-reflection; it is not a judgment of character.

Taking the Rice Purity Test

The official version is available at ricepuritytest.com, the page maintained by The Rice Thresher. There you check every statement that applies to you. The abbreviation MPS stands for "member of the preferred sex," the group of people you are attracted to. For each statement checked, the page subtracts one point from the 100 and shows the final score.

Result and score

There is no official division into categories such as "very pure" or "impure." The number between 0 and 100 is all there is. Two reference points help put it in context: in the first survey at Rice University in 1924, the average of the 119 participants was 62 points. In 2017, test takers in Houston averaged 65 points.

The averages from both surveys sit in the 60s. Some of the listed experiences apply to most people, and some do not. A score above 90 means that very little was checked; below 30, a large part of the list was checked.

Example questions from the test

The 100 statements begin with milder experiences and become more explicit further down the list. The examples below show the kind of question involved, and each one counts as a single point in the scoring.

• Have you ever kissed someone?
• Have you ever given or received oral sex?
• Have you ever had sex (vaginal or anal penetration)?
• Have you ever had sex with three or more people?
• Have you ever had sex with someone of the same sex?
• Have you ever masturbated?
• Have you ever watched pornography?
• Have you ever had sex with someone without using protection?
• Have you ever been caught having sex or masturbating?
• Have you ever been naked in public?
• Have you ever drunk until you were drunk?
• Have you ever used illegal drugs?
• Have you ever driven after drinking or using drugs?
• Have you ever stolen something?
• Have you ever been involved in a physical fight?
• Have you ever been arrested or detained by the police?
• Have you ever cheated on a partner?
• Have you ever lied to a partner about something important?
• Have you ever used someone else's name to do something illegal or immoral?
• Have you ever regretted any of your sexual choices?

The appeal of the test lies in a number that is easy to compare, and that is also its weakness. The American animated series Big Mouth named an episode after it: "Rice Purity Test," from the sixth season, released in 2022. The test also draws criticism, since sorting experiences into "pure" and "impure" carries old ideas about how a life should look. As a conversation starter among friends, it works as long as the number is not mistaken for a grade on someone's character.