The Rice Purity Test is a 100-question self-assessment survey that measures a person's "innocence" through accumulated life experiences. Each question asks whether you've done a specific thing — held hands romantically, kissed someone, used a substance, encountered authority, had certain sexual experiences. Every "yes" subtracts one point from a starting score of 100. The final number, between 0 and 100, becomes your purity score: higher means you've done fewer of the listed things, lower means more.
It's been around for nearly a century. It went viral on TikTok in the mid-2020s. Millions of people take it every month worldwide. And despite being designed in 1924 by Rice University students as a freshman bonding activity, it's somehow become a defining cultural artifact of how Gen Z compares life experiences with friends.
Where it came from
The original Rice Purity Test was published by the Rice Thresher — Rice University's student newspaper in Houston, Texas — sometime in the 1920s. The earliest version was a short questionnaire aimed at incoming female freshmen, intended as a way to assess how college life affected moral character. It was a product of its era, both in its assumptions about gender and in what it considered "purity."
Over the following decades, students added their own questions. The list expanded. By the 1980s, the test had reached its current 100-question format, covering relationships, sexual experiences, substance use, encounters with authority, and what could be called "general misbehavior." The original gendered framing dropped away. The test became a coed Orientation Week tradition for new students bonding with their classmates.
Other universities adopted it. Berkeley, UCLA, Duke, and dozens of others developed local variations. The "Rice" name stuck because Rice University produced the original published version that everyone else iterated on.
How the scoring works
The mechanic is deliberately simple. You start at 100. You read 100 yes- or-no questions. For each one you answer "yes," you subtract one point. Your final score is 100 minus the number of items you've checked.
Higher scores mean fewer experiences checked. Someone who checks zero boxes scores 100 ("saintly" in modern interpretations). Someone who checks every box scores 0, though as the original test famously notes, "completion of all items on this test will likely result in death."
The questions are arranged in roughly escalating intensity, beginning with mild items like "held hands romantically" and "been on a date," moving through dating and intimacy, then substance use, then encounters with police and authority, then sexual experience, and ending with a final section of the heaviest items — pregnancy, paid sexual acts, voyeurism, and the most extreme experiences the test catalogues.
What your score actually means
The global average Rice Purity Test score is approximately 64. Most people score between 55 and 85. Within those ranges:
- 90–100: "Saintly" — very few experiences checked, common in teens and early college students
- 70–89: "Gentle Soul" — above-average innocence, typical of college sophomores
- 50–69: "Balanced" — right around the global average, typical of adults 25+
- 30–49: "Adventurous" — meaningful life experience across most categories
- 0–29: "Untamed" — extensive engagement, including the heaviest test sections
Your score isn't a moral judgment. The test catalogues a specific list of 100 experiences chosen by 1924-era Rice University students and updated over the decades. It doesn't measure character, intelligence, success, or worth. It just describes where your life experiences sit relative to that particular list.
For detailed interpretations of every individual score, see our score interpretation guide.
Why it went viral on TikTok
The Rice Purity Test had a quiet renaissance in 2020 and exploded in 2023–2024 on TikTok. Videos tagged with #ricepuritytest accumulated hundreds of millions of views. Creators recorded themselves taking the test, reacting to specific questions, comparing scores with friends, and debating what specific answers revealed about their lives.
The mechanic was perfect for short-form video: a single shareable score that everyone instantly understands without context, a structure that produces dramatic reactions ("I cannot believe question 47 is on here"), and a built-in comparison element ("what did you score?") that drives engagement. The test's pre-existing 100-year history gave it cultural legitimacy that made it feel less like a Buzzfeed quiz and more like a rite of passage.
The viral moment also produced score-comparison rituals among friend groups, dating apps where people listed their scores, and an entire cottage industry of clones and variations.
Common misconceptions
It isn't a bucket list. The original test even warns: "completion of all items on this test will likely result in death." It's a checklist of things people might have done, not a goal to aim for.
It isn't a measure of morality. The test catalogues experiences across many categories, including ones most people consider neutral (being on a date), positive (being in love), and negative (committing crimes). A low score doesn't make someone bad, and a high score doesn't make someone good.
It isn't psychologically validated. The test was never designed as a clinical or scientific instrument. It's a 1924 college bonding activity that's grown into an internet cultural phenomenon. Don't treat your score as a diagnosis of anything.
It isn't endorsed by Rice University. Rice University acknowledges the test exists in connection with their student newspaper but hasn't formally endorsed any modern version of it. The vast majority of online versions today, including this one, are not affiliated with Rice University.
Should you take it?
For most people, yes — but with the right expectations. The Rice Purity Test works best as a conversation starter, a friend-group bonding activity, or a moment of personal self-reflection. It's not designed for solitary self-assessment that you take seriously, and it's certainly not designed for use as a scoreboard against romantic partners or peers.
Take it once. See your number. Talk about it with friends if you want. Share your score if you find that fun. Then move on. The test's value comes from the conversations it sparks, not from the number it produces.