Measurement, not magic
What we actually measure
Vibotype is built on the Dual Control Model of sexual response, developed by researchers Erick Janssen and John Bancroft at the Kinsey Institute. Its core finding is disarmingly simple: your intimate life runs on separate systems for excitation (how easily you catch fire) and inhibition (what pulls you back out). We call them the Accelerator and the Brakes, and the research distinguishes two kinds of Brakes: worry about how you're doing, and worry about the situation around you. We measure both, separately, because the fixes are different. Tempo (whether desire tends to strike first or build once things start) comes from Rosemary Basson's work on responsive desire.
How the quiz works
A five-minute quiz: fixed order, five answers per question. Every question measures exactly one thing, and we wrote it to be answered honestly by a normal person. No trick items, no hidden scoring. Your sensory profile (what you tune into) is measured relative to your own average, which is why we will never tell you that you have 'a type of senses.' You have weights. Everyone does.
Where the map's lines come from
Honesty requires saying this plainly: the four regions are our names, drawn on top of real, published dimensions. The lines between regions start from the published statistics of the validated research scales this model comes from: not from a guess, and not from wishful symmetry. As real results come in, we recalculate those lines from our own data, on a schedule we committed to in advance and in public. If the data says the map should be redrawn (fewer regions, different lines, or no regions at all, just dials), we will publish that, and redraw it.
What this is not
Vibotype is not therapy, not medicine, and not a diagnosis. A strong set of Brakes is a design fact about a normal person, not a condition. If something about your intimate life is causing you or a partner distress, a licensed clinician is the right next step, and nothing on your map should ever be used to argue otherwise.
The sources
- Janssen, E., Vorst, H., Finn, P., & Bancroft, J. (2002). The Sexual Inhibition (SIS) and Sexual Excitation (SES) Scales: I. Measuring sexual inhibition and excitation proneness in men. Journal of Sex Research, 39, 114–126.
- Basson, R. (2000). The female sexual response: A different model. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 26.
- Carpenter, D., Janssen, E., Graham, C., Vorst, H., & Wicherts, J. (2008). Women's scores on the Sexual Inhibition/Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES). Journal of Sex Research, 45(1).
- Velten, J., Scholten, S., & Margraf, J. (2018). Psychometric properties of the Sexual Excitation/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women and Men (SESII-W/M) and the Sexual Excitation Scales/Sexual Inhibition Scales short form (SIS/SES-SF) in a population-based sample in Germany. PLOS ONE, 13(3), e0193080.
Our recalibration rules (when we re-draw the lines, from what data, using what tests) were written down and time-stamped in public before we saw any results. That's on purpose: it means we can't quietly move the goalposts, and you don't have to trust us. You can check us.