Ranging anywhere from 10 questions to 1500, a "purity test" measures your percentage of purity/corruption in 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 Islamic nations.

Some "purity tests" are serious, some esoteric, some are just bizarre, but there's no denying their popularity. Sites like the Armory host and have links to literally hundreds of different tests on every possible subject imaginable, everything from sex to computers to Gilligan's Island. They're closely related to the ever-popular personality tests.

Most purity tests have possible scores anywhere from 1 to 99%, but most scores in well-designed tests are designed to fall between 40-60% pure/corrupt (standard distribution curve). Purity tests ask numerous (sometimes embarrassing) questions of their users, and as they say, all technicalities count.

Purity test culture

Extremely popular among people aged 13-40, purity tests are the subject of much discussion and quite a few parties. It is common to post purity test scores, discuss them with friends, and even plan to 'improve' them, using the purity test itself as a 'checklist' of things to do/try. They are easily obtained using any search engine (if you can find this article, you can find a purity test).

More than just a passing fad, purity tests are a good way to get anonymous information about the denizens of the internet. One purity-type test is actually an AI experiment attempting to identify sex by the answers given to questions.