Sexual · Question 22 of 100

What “Had sexual intercourse?” means

Item 22 on the 100-question Rice Purity Test reads “Had sexual intercourse?”. Here is what the wording covers, where readers reasonably disagree about it, and exactly how much it moves your score.

Guidance written and reviewed 2026-07-26

Adult and sensitive content

The full checklist is intended for adults aged 18 and over and includes explicit topics. You may leave any item unchecked, exit the test, or delete saved checks. An unchecked item is scored the same whether the experience did not occur or you preferred not to answer.

What the question is asking

Item 22 asks whether you have had sexual intercourse. It is the single most consequential item on the checklist, not because it is worth more — every item is worth exactly one point — but because 24 of the remaining 78 items are conditions layered on top of it. A taker who leaves item 22 unchecked will almost certainly leave items 23 to 46 unchecked too.

Where people disagree about what counts

The checklist does not define intercourse, and different readers draw the boundary in different places. Anal sex has its own separate item at 47, which implies that item 22 is meant more narrowly, but the list never says so. Same-sex takers in particular find the item under-specified, and generally read it as covering whatever they consider intercourse for themselves.

The test is self-scored and nobody else ever sees your answer, so the only thing that matters is applying one reading consistently across the whole checklist.

How item 22 fits with the items around it

Item 22 opens the longest run on the checklist. Items 23 to 46 add frequency, position, partner, setting, and circumstance conditions to it one at a time, so this single act generates a quarter of the entire test. That structure is the main reason scores fall in large steps rather than smoothly once a taker reaches this part of the list.

Item 21, before this one Felt someone up? Item 23, after this one Had sexual intercourse three or more times in one night?

How it affects the score

Every question has the same one-point effect. Checking item 22 subtracts one point from the starting score of 100. Leaving it unchecked subtracts nothing, and no item on the checklist is weighted more heavily than any other.

Final score = 100 − total checked boxes

The final number never identifies this answer or any other individual answer — it is a count, so it discards which items were selected the moment it is calculated. Read the full scoring guide or look up an exact result on the 0–100 score chart.

Questions about item 22

How much does item 22 lower a Rice Purity score?

By one point, exactly like every other item. What makes it look larger is that items 23 to 46 build on it, so checking 22 usually means checking several of those too.

Does the checklist define intercourse?

No. It gives no definition anywhere, and anal sex is listed separately at item 47. Takers apply their own reading, and the score is unaffected by which one they choose as long as they are consistent.

Can I check later items without checking item 22?

Arithmetically yes — nothing enforces consistency — but the later items are written as conditions on this one, so almost nobody does. The score is simply the count of checked boxes either way.

Privacy and choice

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