Rice Purity Test for Couples: Compare Your Results Side by Side
The rice purity test for couples usually starts the same way. Two people, a few months in, one of them takes the test on a slow Sunday, gets a 71, and sends the number over with the obvious follow-up. The other gets a 38, and suddenly a 33-point gap is sitting in the chat, along with a conversation neither of them planned. That scene is a composite, but I watched versions of it for eleven years in residence halls. The couples who handled it well cared more about the talk than the number.
Compare two results
Each of you takes the test, taps “Compare with a partner” on your result, and sends the link to the other. Paste both links (or codes) here. Everything is compared inside this browser tab.
Heads up: a full-result link contains every answer, not just the score. Only swap links with someone you trust.
No result yet? Start with the regular 100-question Rice Purity Test. There is no separate couples rice purity test, and that is the point: you both answer the same 100 items in the same order, so your answers line up item by item.
How the rice purity test for couples comparison works
The comparison takes two full answer sets and sorts all 100 items into four piles: done by both of you, only you, only your partner, and neither. It shows both scores, the gap between them and an overlap percentage. Nothing is uploaded. It all happens in the open tab.
When you tap “Compare with a partner”, the site packs your 100 yes/no answers into a 17-character code and puts it after a # in the address. Browsers never send the part after the # to a server. The code goes only where you send it: a text, a DM, an AirDrop.
What do “shared”, “only you” and “only them” mean?
Shared items are the ones you both ticked. Only-you items are ticked on your side and blank on theirs; only-them is the reverse. Nothing is ranked or labeled good or bad. The shared list is usually the warm part, full of Dating & kissing items you probably ticked together. The other two lists are where the conversation lives.
How is the overlap percentage worked out?
Overlap counts the items where your answers match, both ticked or both blank, out of 100. Worked example: you ticked 30 items, your partner ticked 40, and 25 are the same. That leaves 5 only-you, 15 only-them and 55 that neither of you ticked. Matches are 25 plus 55, so overlap is 80%, even though the scores are 70 and 60. A high overlap does not make you soulmates. Mostly it means neither of you has been to an orgy.
/#s=74) shows only a number. The couples link is different: anyone who opens it can decode all 100 of your answers. Send it to your partner, not the group chat.Should couples compare purity scores at all?
Compare rice purity scores with your partner if you both want to, you can both laugh, and you can both hear an unexpected answer without keeping score later. If any of those is shaky, skip it. My slightly unpopular view: the size of the gap tells you almost nothing. Whether you can talk about it tells you a lot.
Remember what the score is. It is 100 minus the boxes ticked, every box worth one point. “Held hands romantically” costs the same as “had sex with five or more partners”, and two people can land on the same 62 with almost nothing in common. Our score bands, from Uncooked rice at 100 down to Tahdig at 0 to 9, are our own playful reading; the Thresher has never published a meaning for scores. The score meaning guide covers every range.
Couples comparing scores is older than you might think. In 1980 a Thresher “misclassifieds” ad joked about “The First Annual Rice Purity Contest” for couples: start at 100, lowest combined score by sunrise. A gag, not a real event, but proof that Rice students treated the test as a two-player game more than four decades ago.
What if your partner’s score is much lower or higher than yours?
A big gap usually means one of you had more relationships, or more years of dating, before you met. That is a timeline, not a verdict. Someone who met their first partner at 19 and someone with a busy few years in their twenties can easily sit 30 or 40 points apart and still want exactly the same things now.
Is there a “normal” gap? Nobody knows. There is no credible published average by age, and the ranges floating around online come from no named dataset. The rice purity test average score page has the only sourced figures: 62 in the Thresher’s 1924 survey and 65 for Houston tests on Dis-Orientation day 2017. Neither is a yardstick for your relationship.
If the gap stings, notice which way. The higher scorer sometimes feels behind or naive; the lower scorer braces for judgment. Saying which one you feel, out loud, does more than anything on the comparison screen.
How to have the conversation well
Agree before you share, ask out of curiosity rather than suspicion, treat the past as finished, and name jealousy instead of acting it out. Then use the moment for the one genuinely useful thing the test can prompt: an honest talk about sexual health and getting tested.
Ask first, and make “no” easy
A rice purity test with your boyfriend or girlfriend should be an invitation, not a requirement. “I took this, want to compare? Totally fine if not” works. If they say no, that is a complete answer. Agree, too, that a result link stays between you two.
Curious, not interrogating
The only-them list is not a witness statement. Pick one or two items and ask an open question (“what’s the story there?”) rather than a forensic one (who, when, how many times). In the healthy-relationships sessions I ran, the line that landed best was simple: you may be curious about someone’s life, but you are not entitled to an audit of it.
The past is the past, and jealousy is information
Everything on the list happened before this conversation, much of it before you met. You cannot compete with it and you do not need to. If jealousy shows up anyway, which is normal, treat it as information about what you need now (reassurance, time, affection), not evidence of a problem. “I felt a pang seeing that, can you tell me we’re good?” saves a lot of evenings.
The useful part: condoms, testing and a plan
Three items in the Adventurous sex category open the most practical talk a couple can have: sex without a condom, an STI test taken for a real reason, and having had an STI. Many common STIs cause no symptoms, so testing is the only way to know your status. Thinking about stopping condoms? Both get tested, share results, agree what exclusivity means to you, then decide together. A campus health center can do it quickly. And ticking “had an STI test” is a sign of someone looking after themselves.
When not to compare at all
Skip the comparison if either of you feels pressured, if the relationship is very new, or if one partner tends to use information to control or punish the other. Then a light game becomes leverage.
Too early in dating
Three dates in is not the moment. Early on, people are still deciding how much history to share, and a 100-item list skips that pacing. Curious anyway? Swap plain score links and save the full comparison for later, if ever.
When it feels like pressure, or a loyalty test
If you are only taking it because your partner insisted, or you suspect your answers will surface in the next argument, do not send a full-result link. Demanding to see someone’s answers, checking their phone or using their past as ammunition are classic signs of a controlling relationship, and a quiz did not create them. A campus counselor or a relationship-abuse support line is a reasonable next step.
In front of an audience
Every orientation season, some couple compared scores out loud in a dorm lounge while everyone watched. It is rarely as fun for the couple as for the room. Do it alone, and close the tab afterwards. For what a result link reveals and what this site stores, read is the Rice Purity Test safe?
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a special rice purity test for couples?
No. There is no separate couples edition. Each partner takes the standard 100-question Rice Purity Test alone, and the couples page lines the two answer sets up item by item. That is what makes the comparison work: because you both answered the same 100 items in the same order, every item can be sorted into shared, only you, only them or neither. A couples quiz with different questions could not do that. If you took the test on another site, retake it here, because the comparison needs your individual answers, not just a final score.
Can my partner see all my answers if I send my comparison link?
Yes. A full-result comparison link encodes all 100 of your answers in a short code after the # sign, so anyone who opens it can see exactly which items you ticked, not only the score. The code never reaches our server, because browsers do not send the part of an address after the # anywhere, but it travels wherever you paste it. Send it only to the person you are comparing with and ask them not to forward it. To share just the number, use the plain score link from the result screen.
Does a big gap in purity scores mean we are incompatible?
No. The score is 100 minus the items ticked, each worth one point, so it mostly reflects how much dating each person did before, not their values or what they want now. Two people with very different scores can want exactly the same relationship. What matters is whether you can talk openly, respect each other's boundaries and agree on exclusivity and sexual health. A 40-point gap you can laugh about is a better sign than a 2-point gap neither of you can discuss.
Should we take the test at the same time, together?
Separately usually works better. Side by side, people glance at each other's screens and adjust answers, which defeats the point. Each of you should take it alone, in your own time, then swap result links when you are both ready. Agree beforehand that either of you can back out after seeing your own result, no hard feelings. Then sit down together, paste both links into the compare tool and read the result on one screen, so the conversation happens face to face rather than over text.
Can I compare my rice purity score with a friend instead of a partner?
Yes. The tool does not know or care whether the second person is a partner, and best friends and roommates compare all the time. The same caution applies: a full-result link reveals every answer to whoever holds it, so only swap with someone you trust to keep it private. Friend comparisons also drift into group settings, where one person's list gets read out for laughs. If you would not want your answers read aloud in the dorm lounge, keep it to two people and one screen.
What was the 1980 Rice Purity Contest for couples?
It was a joke. In 1980 a misclassifieds ad in the Rice Thresher, the student newspaper behind the test, announced The First Annual Rice Purity Contest for couples: start at 100 and aim for the lowest combined score by sunrise. It was a gag ad, not an organized event, and nobody should treat it as a challenge. It is worth knowing because it shows students were already treating the purity test as something couples did together more than forty years before shareable links existed.