What this top or bottom quiz measures
This am I a top or bottom quiz estimates sexual role preference across six reflective domains. Four items cover giving versus receiving pleasure, such as whether you feel energized as the primary giver or prefer focused attention on yourself. Four items cover initiating versus yielding, including who starts contact and who guides pace. Four items cover physical positioning preference, from active top roles to side-friendly mutual activities. Four items cover consensual power exchange in bed without assuming BDSM identity. Four items cover versatility comfort when switching roles. Four items cover open communication about top, bottom, versatile, or side labels.
Giving vs receiving pleasure
Whether you feel more energized giving physical pleasure or receiving focused attention from a partner.
Initiating vs yielding
Whether you prefer to initiate sexual contact and guide pace or yield to a partner who leads.
Physical positioning preference
Whether you gravitate toward active or receptive physical roles, including side-friendly activities.
Power exchange in bed
Whether consensual power play pulls you toward leading, following, or staying neutral during sex.
Versatility comfort
How confident you feel switching between top-leaning and bottom-leaning roles across encounters.
Communication about roles
How openly you discuss role preferences and separate them from dominant/submissive dynamics.
How it works
Three steps from first question to your role band. Click Start Quiz to open the interactive screener in a full-screen modal.
Answer 24 agree items
Rate each statement from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree. There is no timer and no auto-advance. Some items are reverse-scored so honest disagreement still maps correctly.
Items map to six domains
Your answers accumulate percentages for giving, initiating, positioning, power, versatility, and communication, plus a top-bottom index and side index.
View a role band
Results show Strong Top Lean, Versatile Middle, Strong Bottom Lean, or Side-leaning Explorer with domain bars and plain-language guidance. This is not a BDSM dominance test.
Take the top or bottom quiz
Rate 24 sexual role preference statements on a five-point agree scale. Your answers produce a top-bottom index, six domain scores, versatility and side indices, and one of four role bands with consent-focused guidance.
Opens in a focused modal. No account required. Results stay on screen.
What your result means
Your top-bottom index averages four role domains (giving, initiating, positioning, power exchange) on a 0 through 100 scale where higher scores mean more top lean on these items. The band groups that index with versatility and side indices into plain language. Domain bars show which theme drives your result. Side-marker items can place you in Side-leaning Explorer when mutual pleasure outside strict roles fits better than top or bottom polarization. Lower index scores reflect more bottom lean on this screener, not less worth as a partner.
| Role band | Typical index pattern | Typical reading |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Top Lean | Top-bottom index 63% or higher | More agreement on giving, initiating, active positioning, and leading power items |
| Versatile Middle | Index 38% to 62% or balanced role scores | Mixed top and bottom preferences or comfortable switching between roles |
| Strong Bottom Lean | Top-bottom index 37% or lower | More agreement on receiving, yielding, receptive positioning, and following power items |
| Side-leaning Explorer | Side index 62%+ with lower polarization | Preference for activities outside strict top/bottom framing |
Six role preference domains
The diagram below shows how domain scores appear in your results. High giving scores with moderate positioning may still land you in Versatile Middle when initiating and power items balance out.
What this quiz can and cannot tell you
Can tell you
- Whether your self-reported habits lean top, bottom, versatile, or side on these items
- A top-bottom index and six domain scores for giving, initiating, positioning, power, versatility, and communication
- Whether side-marker items suggest pleasure outside strict top/bottom roles
- A starting point for consent-focused conversations with partners about sexual roles
Cannot tell you
- Whether you are dominant or submissive in BDSM (try our dominant or submissive test for that)
- That tops must always lead or bottoms must always receive in every encounter
- Your full kink profile, fetishes, or relationship compatibility
- How partners should treat you without ongoing negotiation and consent
Top, bottom, vers, and side: why role labels are not the same as D/s
In many queer communities, especially among men who have sex with men, top and bottom describe who tends to take the more active or receptive role during partnered sex. Versatile or vers describes people who switch comfortably. Side describes people whose pleasure centers on activities outside strict top/bottom framing. These labels travel across genders and orientations even though search traffic often arrives as am I a top or bottom.
Researchers at Indiana University's Kinsey Institute have long noted that sexual behavior, identity, and fantasy do not always line up on one axis. BDSM educator Jay Wiseman emphasized that dominance and submission are negotiated power dynamics, not automatic mirrors of top and bottom preference. The Quiz Hub built this top or bottom quiz as a reflective screener that names that split rather than collapsing kink roles into bedroom positioning.
| The Quiz Hub test | What it adds |
|---|---|
| BDSM test | Broader kink and fetish profile across dominance, submission, bondage, and related interests |
| Dominant or submissive test | Power exchange orientation in consensual kink, separate from top/bottom positioning |
| Sexuality test | Orientation reflection across emotional, physical, and identity domains when role labels feel secondary |
| This top or bottom quiz | Twenty-four role preference items with top-bottom index, side index, and four bands without equating roles to D/s |
Sample item: agreeing that you gravitate toward active physical positions raises your positioning domain score toward top lean. Agreeing that you prefer mutual touch without a clear active or passive role raises your side index even when you enjoy kink elsewhere. Pair results with our kink and BDSM hub when you want sibling tests on power dynamics. Read how we review adult content in our editorial policy.
Top or bottom quiz FAQ
What does the top or bottom quiz measure?
This top or bottom quiz measures self-reported sexual role preference across six domains: giving versus receiving pleasure, initiating versus yielding, physical positioning, consensual power exchange in bed, versatility comfort, and communication about roles. Twenty-four Likert items produce a top-bottom index, six domain bars, versatility and side indices, and one of four bands. It is not a BDSM test and does not measure dominance or submission.
Am I a top or bottom based on this quiz?
Your band describes a lean on this screener: Strong Top Lean, Versatile Middle, Strong Bottom Lean, or Side-leaning Explorer. Only you choose labels like top, bottom, vers, or side. A high top index means you endorsed giving, initiating, and leading items more often. A low index means receiving and yielding items scored higher. Mixed scores land in Versatile Middle. Side-marker items can trigger Side-leaning Explorer when mutual pleasure outside strict roles fits best.
Is top the same as dominant and bottom the same as submissive?
No. Top and bottom describe sexual role preference during partnered sex, especially in queer communities. Dominant and submissive describe consensual power exchange in BDSM. A person can be a top who enjoys submissive kink, a bottom who leads in D/s scenes, or any combination. This quiz educates on that split and includes an item on understanding that top/bottom roles are separate from D/s dynamics.
What is a side in the top or bottom quiz?
Side describes people who prefer sexual activities that do not center on strict top or bottom roles, such as mutual touch or outercourse. Side is recognized in many gay and queer communities and is valid for any gender or orientation. The Side-leaning Explorer band appears when side-marker items score high relative to top-bottom polarization on this screener.
How long does the top or bottom quiz take?
Most people finish in about 6 minutes. There are 24 items on a five-point agree scale from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree. You can pause and return in the same browser session thanks to autosave.
Who reviewed this content?
Dr. Morgan Chen, PhD, reviewed the test framing and result explanations. See our editorial policy for review standards.
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