The Are you a pedophile? Test
It’s really easy to get into the world of online dating. What is your name? What are your interests? Would you like to upload a picture? And, you’re in. ‘okcupid.com’ is a dating site that is very popular; according to The Boston Globe it is “The Google of online dating.” They have created an interesting test that is called “The Are you a pedophile? Test” for people who might like to know if they’re attracted to kids. I am going to discuss three questions that are not valid because they are essentially not measuring the things they claim to measure.
First question is “Are you regularly attracted to people under the age of consent? For example, under the age of 16.” What does regularly mean? Two times a year, every time I see someone underage, every six months? What does attracted mean, is it sexual or not? Would this be enough: “I get along with them better because I like building sandcastles and playing with dolls, that’s why I am attracted to play with them even though I am 30.” Or what if I am 16 years old or younger myself?
Twelfth question is “In the Harry Potter movies, Hermione Granger/Harry Potter was hottest in which movie?” and the options are “First movie”, “Second movie”, “Third movie” or “I don’t find her/him hot at all.” So it’s either when she was between the ages of eleven and thirteen OR not liking her at all. Maybe I liked her a lot in the last movie when she was over eighteen. There is a manipulation of answers that inclines towards making people seem like pedophiles, instead of putting many other possible options on the test.
Twenty-third question is “In the past it was perfectly acceptable for people to marry and have children as a teenager. Why?” and the options are “A person’s life-span was much shorter then. If they waited too long to procreate, they wouldn’t get the chance”, “I don’t believe you”, “Who cares? Why couldn’t I have lived back then?” and “What? It’s not acceptable today?” They seem to be trying to catch pedophiles with the second and last answers, but the first answer is the most logical and the right one. Does this suggest that pedophiles are ignorant people, who would not choose the logical answer, and instead they would go for the other ones (since they are supposedly sad they they cannot marry a teenager now)?
Source: http://www.okcupid.com/tests/the-are-you-a-pedophile-test
