Multidimensional Sexuality Scale (Berkey MSS)
45 True/False items mapping your sexual orientation across 9 categories.
Sexual orientation is more than labels. The Berkey MSS maps your orientation across 9 categories × 5 dimensions (attraction, emotion, behavior, arousal, fantasy). 45 True/False items, about 15 minutes.
What Is the Multidimensional Scale of Sexuality?
Most people describe their sexual orientation with a single label. But real human sexuality is rarely that simple. Who you are attracted to, who you love, who you sleep with, what turns you on, and what you fantasize about — these don't always point in the same direction.
The MSS, developed by Berkey, Perelman-Hall, and Kurdek in 1990, tries to capture that complexity. It breaks sexual orientation into 9 categories — from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual, with bisexual subtypes (concurrent vs. sequential) and asexual — and asks about each from 5 angles: attraction, emotional connection, behavior, arousal, and fantasy.
The result is a 9×2 profile showing how well each category fits you on behavioral and cognitive/emotional levels. It was designed as a research tool, not a diagnostic test. The original sample was small (N=148), but the framework remains influential for recognizing that bisexuality and orientation fluidity take multiple forms.
45 True/False items, about 15 minutes.
Scoring Guide
The MSS uses a dual scoring system:<br><br>Behavioral score: Each category's SB (sexual behavior) item score (0 or 1).<br>Cognitive/Affective score: Mean of the other 4 items (SA + AE + EF + DF) per category (0-1).<br><br>The category with the highest cognitive/affective score suggests the strongest alignment. Note: No standardized cutoffs were established in the original study.Result Interpretation
Finish the 45 questions and you get your results straight away — no account needed, nothing to sign up for.
- Your score is calculated from your answers.
- What it means — a plain-language breakdown of where you fall.
- Dimension scores shown separately for each sub-scale.
- Context where available, compared against population norms.