Personal Freedom Test — How Free Am I? — Public Specification (about)

Personal Freedom Test — How Free Am I?

A free personal freedom test that visualizes your room for self-determination through a structured questionnaire.

Project profile

What it is

Personal Freedom Test is a self-analysis tool that measures your degree of freedom across five perspectives: economic, time, place, health, and relationships.
After 24 questions, your answers are combined—including how easily you can leave or refuse unwanted constraints (lock-in)—and shown as a score from 0 to 100 with a four-tier label (C / B / A / S).
The questions assume regions or environments where choices regarding employment, residence, and assets are permitted under institutions.
Results can also be used as material for external AI consultation prompts.
Please note that even when you value bonds with family or organizations, heavy time commitments or burdens may yield a somewhat lower score. If you willingly accept your current roles or relationships, mark the relevant questions as N/A (excluded from the score).

What it is NOT

Important: Does not measure happiness, life satisfaction, or personal worth, and does not judge your abilities, personality, character, or worth as a person.
Not a substitute for medical or psychological diagnosis, legal advice, career aptitude testing, or professional financial or career guidance.
Questions, options, and annotations were created with reference to existing frameworks in the social sciences and structured with generative AI assistance.
The developers accept no liability for decisions or actions based on the results. Use this tool at your own judgment and responsibility.

This individual self-assessment tool is not affiliated with the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) or its country-level Personal Freedom Indicator (https://www.mcc.gov/who-we-select/indicator/personal-freedom-indicator/), which measures national civil liberties from World Bank governance data.

Adaptation & open specification

This tool is one attempt to quantify personal freedom. Its questions and scoring are not academically or clinically validated scales, and they do not fit every country, culture, or value system. We welcome adaptations and the development of your own tools for your environment. The full specification is published at:
https://personal-freedom-indicator.pages.dev/about/
Feel free to reference and modify it.

Design philosophy

Negative liberty: freedom from external constraint, coercion, and lock-in. All core items count toward the index across five categories. Each carries [Theory], [Ref], and [Ops] annotations (behavioral economics, sociology, cognitive science, organizational psychology).

Privacy

Scoring runs on the client. No name or contact details are collected. Optional cohort fields (Anonymous profile) are used only for anonymous statistics and AI consultation prompts.

5 categories

(index 0) Economic
(index 1) Time
(index 2) Place
(index 3) Health
(index 4) Relationships

Scoring & tiers

Per item: A = 2 / B = 1 / C = 0 / N/A excluded.
Formula: index = round( clamp( 0, 100, (sumPoints / (2 * n)) * 100 ) ) (sumPoints = Sum of choice points (A=2, B=1, C=0) over valid core answers. Not the result tier letter S.; n = Count of valid core answers (excludes N/A, null/unanswered, and supplementary question ids).; index = 0 when n = 0).
Result tier ranks (0–100 score): C / B / A / S — four tiers, lowest to highest.

Label distinction: Two different label systems: (1) Per-question answer bands A / B / C score each item (A = most freedom on that question). (2) Result tier ranks are four levels C / B / A / S from lowest to highest overall score; S (Independent, 90–100) is the top tier. Do not treat result tiers as a three-level A/B/C scale — S is a fourth rank, not a formula variable.

If the numbers in the options feel off, choose the band (A/B/C) closest to your own sense.

Heuristic self-assessment — not a validated scale. Thresholds and A/B/C weights are author-defined, not research-derived cutoffs.

Tiers

Level	Range	Label
1	0–29	C: Highly Structured
2	30–59	B: Partially Constrained
3	60–89	A: Autonomous
4	90–100	S: Independent

All questions (English — authoritative)

Listed in live app answer order (flow step 1…24; Q1…Q24 are display numbers in that order).

Q1. Roughly how much time per day on average can you use freely for yourself?

Time

e.g. Hobbies, study, exercise, chatting, rest, etc. Do not count housework, childcare, caregiving, sleep, meals, bathing, work, commute, or similar toward free time.
- A: 5 hours or more
- B: 2 hours or more to under 5 hours
- C: Under 2 hours
Annotation: [Theory] Sociology of time use: discretionary time free from obligation or coercion. [Ref] Time-use discretionary vs obligation contrast; subjective daily average (week÷7 OK). [Ops] 5+ / 2 to under 5 / under 2 hours; more is higher freedom.
Q2. Roughly what percentage of the income you rely on for living expenses comes from your single largest source?

Economic

e.g. Salary, business income, spouse or family income, pension, rent income, fees, dividends or interest, other
- A: Under 50% (multiple pillars)
- B: 50%-89%
- C: 90% or more (mostly one source)
Annotation: [Theory] Household & labor economics: income concentration risk. [Ref] id:2 fixed-expense share; id:3 runway if all income stops. This item is source diversification. [Ops] Under 50% / 50%-89% / 90%+; lower is higher freedom.
Q3. Roughly what percentage of your take-home income goes to fixed spending?

Economic

e.g. Rent, food, various loans, repayments, health insurance, tuition, remittances, caregiving, utilities, telecom, other
- A: Under 40%
- B: 40%-69%
- C: 70% or more
Annotation: [Theory] Behavioral economics & scarcity: financial stress and cognitive load. [Ref] European housing-cost statistics define a burden when housing alone exceeds 40% of disposable income; this item extends to all fixed spending. [Ops] Under 40% / 40%-69% / 70%+; lower is higher freedom.
Q4. When invited to gatherings you are not keen on or approached with solicitations or sales, which is closest to your usual response?

Relationships

e.g. Drinks with colleagues, alumni or ceremonial events, MLM/network marketing or religious solicitation, insurance or beauty sales, door-to-door sales, other
- A: Usually decline (unreasonable invites regardless of who asks)
- B: Sometimes accept without declining, depending on situation or person
- C: Often swept along into attending or signing up without declining
Annotation: [Theory] Social/commercial pressure: default response. [Ref] Core item; prior impulse-purchase wording was autonomy-band supplementary. Decline style (direct vs indirect) not scored. [Ops] Usually decline / situational accept / often swept along; A higher freedom.
Q5. If all income stopped suddenly, about how long could you maintain your current standard of living without strain?

Economic

e.g. Cash, checking/savings, readily liquid financial assets (excluding real estate etc. that cannot be sold quickly), other
- A: 6 months or more
- B: 3 months or more to under 6 months
- C: Under 3 months
Annotation: [Theory] Macro household & labor economics: precautionary savings. [Ref] All income stops; period you can maintain current living standard without strain (liquid buffer). Advanced-economy surveys use months of liquid assets; 3-6 months is common planning guidance. [Ops] 6+ / 3 to under 6 / under 3 months; longer is higher freedom.
Q6. In the past year, on how many days in total did health reasons suddenly force you to cancel or greatly change planned activities?

Health

e.g. Work, medical visits, exercise, travel, hobbies, class or lesson plans, other
- A: 1-2 days
- B: 3-5 days
- C: 6 days or more
Annotation: [Theory] Public health & HRQoL: activity-limitation days. [Ref] id:13 covers hypothetical probability of canceling all plans that day. [Ops] 1-2 / 3-5 / 6+ days; fewer is higher freedom.
Q7. If you had a reason to move to another region or country, how soon could you relocate at the earliest?

Place

e.g. Resignation/handover, lease termination, property sale, packing, disposing unwanted items, family school transfers, healthcare switch, other
- A: Within 1 month
- B: 1-3 months
- C: Over 3 months, or practically extremely difficult
Annotation: [Theory] Regional & urban economics: mobility friction, exit cost. [Ref] Employment, rental, and school adjustments often span weeks to months. [Ops] Within 1 month / 1-3 months / over 3 months or practically difficult; shorter is higher freedom.
Q8. While trying to focus on work or study, how often per hour on average must you stop for interruptions that demand an immediate response?

Time

e.g. Family calls, chat, phone, visitors, other
- A: Once or less
- B: 2-3 times
- C: 4 times or more
Annotation: [Theory] Cognitive science & HCI: interruption and resumption cost. [Ref] HCI literature on interruption resumption cost (~23 min per event) as operational reference. [Ops] <=1 / 2-3 / 4+ per hour; fewer is higher freedom.
Q9. Assuming you woke up unwell or with urgent business that morning, roughly what is the probability you could cancel all plans for that day?

Relationships

e.g. Work attendance (include if paid leave or substitute day off applies), meetings, lessons, optional meals, school runs, other
- A: 90% or more
- B: 50%-89%
- C: Under 50% (almost never, or cleanup cost too high)
Annotation: [Theory] Labor sociology: schedule control. [Ref] id:11 is health-related change days actually experienced. [Ops] 90%+ / 50%-89% / under 50%; more is higher freedom.
Q10. What is the shortest time to end or fully pay off your main current contracts without major trouble?

Place

e.g. Employment, rental, housing or auto loans, business contracts, insurance, other
- A: Within 1 month
- B: 2-3 months
- C: 4 months or more
Annotation: [Theory] Transaction-cost economics: contract lock-in, exit cost. [Ref] Notice periods of 1-3 months are common in practice. [Ops] Within 1 month / 2-3 months / 4+ months; shorter is higher freedom.
Q11. Among things you invested a lot of money or time in, are any still binding your actions or decisions through attachment or obligation?

Time

e.g. Loss-making business, school, paid games, dead-end relationship, fruitless lessons, unfinished work, large unrealized losses, unused luxury goods, problematic relatives, other
- A: None (including never having such a large investment)
- B: One
- C: Two or more
Annotation: [Theory] Behavioral economics: sunk cost & lock-in. [Ref] Negative liberty: constraint from past commitments. [Ops] None / one / two+; fewer is higher freedom.
Q12. When something essential for life or work suddenly stops working, which is closest to your situation?

Economic

e.g. Internet, PC (including employer-provided), smartphone, SNS account suspension, email, payments, transport (car, train, bus, etc.), healthcare access, tools (cooking utensils, instruments, tools, etc.), other
- A: I can replace each quickly with no serious impact
- B: No serious impact at first, but prolonged outage would clearly harm life, health, or income
- C: No substitute and no clear outlook; life, health, or income affected that day
Annotation: [Theory] Reliability engineering: redundancy, single points of failure. [Ops] A immediate substitute / B delayed harm / C same-day harm; higher is higher freedom.
Q13. Without aligning to job start times, on-call duty, or family or housemate routines, on roughly how many days per week can you choose your own bedtime and wake time?

Time

e.g. Job start times, on-call or night contact, family or housemate routines, other
- A: 6 or more days per week
- B: 2-5 days per week
- C: 1 or fewer days per week
Annotation: [Theory] Sociology of time: discretionary sleep/wake (inverse of social jet lag). [Ref] id:13 cancelable plans; this item self-chosen sleep/wake days. [Ops] 6+ / 2-5 / <=1 days; more is higher freedom.
Q14. Regarding relationships with people who exploit you or harm you mentally, in time, or economically, which is closest to your situation?

Relationships

e.g. Moral harassment, exploitative ties, cutting contact, blocking, brainwashing, mind control, other
- A: No such relationship
- B: Some apply, but I can usually cut off or leave / only some relationships / only sometimes
- C: Almost cannot (unwanted relationships remain)
Annotation: [Theory] Family & social psychology: exit cost from relationships. [Ref] id:7 organization/title; id:16 objects/projects; this item is interpersonal. [Ops] None / partial / almost cannot; higher is higher freedom.
Q15. How many constraints like the following stop you from freely choosing where you live or work?

Place

e.g. Work visa, residence status, military service, public office, probation, travel ban, conditional scholarships or grants, traditional or religious residence rules, other
- A: 0 (mostly free)
- B: 1 (procedures exist but possible)
- C: 2 or more (practically very difficult)
Annotation: [Theory] Public administration: overlapping institutional constraints. [Ops] 0 / 1 / 2+; fewer is higher freedom.
Q16. Of chores and other tasks that keep daily life running, roughly what share of those you would like to delegate to others or machines do you actually delegate?

Time

e.g. Housekeeping, food delivery, robot vacuum, dishwasher, dryer, childcare, sitter, elder care, taxes, dry cleaning, online grocery, other
- A: 80% or more
- B: 30%-79%
- C: Under 30%
Annotation: [Theory] Behavioral economics: buying time via delegation. [Ref] Income barriers are environmental; subjective share actually delegated among tasks you'd delegate. [Ops] 80%+ / 30%-79% / under 30%; more is higher freedom.
Q17. Excluding financial and medical limits, roughly what percentage of the time could you eat when and what you wish?

Health

e.g. Work dinners and entertainment meals, family menus, prescribed or hospital meals, diet or coach/instructor meal rules, religious taboos, allergy accommodation (medical), other
- A: 80% or more
- B: 30%-79%
- C: Under 30%
Annotation: [Theory] Eating behavior science: meal discretion (timing x content). [Ref] Financial/medical excluded. Higher % decided = higher freedom (scoring direction opposite to constraint-% items). [Ops] 80%+ / 30%-79% / under 30%.
Q18. In the company, organization, or community you belong to, which is closest regarding cramped rules or customs you cannot realistically change yourself?

Relationships

e.g. How work is done, team/member management, when breaks are allowed, taking paid leave, staying late with the group, unfair or inefficient rules, outdated tools, mandatory office attendance, dress/grooming rules, quotas, detailed work-hour rules, standby or on-call time, off-limits areas, restrictions on personal associations, other
- A: Hardly feel cramped (only necessary minimum rules or customs)
- B: Feel cramped sometimes in some situations or rules
- C: Feel cramped repeatedly in many situations, or at least one rule substantially affects work or belonging
Annotation: [Theory] Industrial & organizational psychology: job control & organizational norms. [Ref] id:19 interpersonal; this item is org rules/customs; ordinal by reach/impact, not percent. [Ops] Hardly / sometimes in part / repeated or substantial impact; higher is higher freedom.
Q19. If you lost important credentials, organizational affiliation, or family ties due to trouble, how much could you maintain your life and income with only your personal skills and track record?

Economic

e.g. Scenarios: credential revocation, dismissal, expulsion, disownment, estrangement, divorce, excommunication, loss of residence status, other Alternatives: professional knowledge and skills (languages, photography, cooking, programming, etc.), patents and royalties, social media and blogging, creative work (writing, music, art, etc.), other
- A: Could mostly maintain the status quo, or current life does not depend on credentials or family ties
- B: Could reasonably expect to maintain roughly 50%-80% with portable skills alone
- C: Little other track record; if social credentials were lost, outlook for life would be bleak
Annotation: [Theory] Labor & human capital: dependence on social credentials (organization, licenses, family ties) vs portable skills and personal track record. [Ref] Loss of credentials, affiliation, or kin due to trouble; outlook to maintain life and income without them, not whether pay stopped. Sample scenarios = loss examples; alternatives = non-organizational pillars. [Ops] A mostly maintain or not dependent / B reasonable outlook for roughly 50%-80% / C little other track record, bleak outlook; higher is higher freedom.
Q20. How many habits or dependencies do you still cannot stop despite wanting to, that seriously affect your daily life?

Health

e.g. Smoking, alcohol, SNS, games, gambling, phone/video overuse, overspending, adult content, unhealthy relationships, other
- A: None
- B: One
- C: Two or more
Annotation: [Theory] Habit science & dependence: internal constraints with real cost. [Ref] Index core. [Ops] None / one / two+ (only if you cannot stop and life is seriously affected); fewer is higher freedom.
Q21. In your company, organization, or community, when someone opposes the majority or organizational or community policy, what is the probability they face retaliation such as gossip, shunning, or lower evaluations?

Relationships

e.g. Pay cut, demotion, dismissal, physical/psychological exclusion, disownment, violence or restraint, lawsuit, fines, other
- A: Under 10% (virtually no penalty)
- B: 10%-50% (penalties sometimes occur)
- C: 51% or more (high probability of retaliation)
Annotation: [Theory] Organizational psychology: psychological safety & fear of retaliation. [Ops] Under 10% / 10%-50% / 51%+; lower is higher freedom.
Q22. Of assets you earned yourself, roughly what percentage can you freely decide how to use?

Economic

e.g. Living expenses, savings and investments, hobbies, remittances, uses besides tax payments, other
- A: 80% or more
- B: 30%-79%
- C: Under 30%
Annotation: [Theory] Household sociology: discretionary cash within household. [Ref] Inverse of restricted-use framing. [Ops] 80%+ / 30%-79% / under 30%; more is higher freedom.
Q23. For important decisions, roughly what percentage can you proceed on your own without waiting for someone else's approval or consent?

Relationships

e.g. Career, study, job change, leaving job, housing, large payments, marriage/divorce/dating, pregnancy/birth, starting a business, other
- A: 90% or more
- B: 50%-89%
- C: Under 50%
Annotation: [Theory] Family sociology & organizations: agency (subjecthood). [Ref] Index core. Exclude courtesy-only consultation. id:21 asset use. Cat4 (relationships/groups). [Ops] 90%+ / 50%-89% / under 50%; more is higher freedom.
Q24. When you are unwell, how close is your situation to being able to receive needed medical care (visits, tests, medication, procedures) without barriers from money, travel, or time?

Health

e.g. Commute to clinics, childcare, night/weekend care, insurance and out-of-pocket costs, prescription continuity, specialist wait times, work hours, other
- A: Rarely blocked
- B: Sometimes delayed or I give up
- C: Often delayed, I give up, or cannot access care
Annotation: [Theory] Healthcare access & barriers: financial, mobility, temporal. [Ref] id:4 substitutes, id:11 health cancellations, id:13 schedule control. [Ops] A rarely / B sometimes / C often; higher is higher freedom.

Anonymous profile fields

Optional anonymous cohort attributes for aggregate statistics and for enriching AI consultation prompts. No name, email, or contact details are collected. Processed on the client. After cohort basics (five fields) are complete, a one-time anonymous stats payload (index, tier, 24-question answer codes A/B/C/N/-, optional subjective wellbeing 1–5, and provided profile fields) may be sent via the stats webhook. Subjective wellbeing does not affect the Personal Freedom Score.

Profile basics (5 fields, optional in live flow): ageBand, gender, countryAlpha2, familyStructure, employmentType
Required in AI consultation wizard (step 1): ageBand, gender, countryAlpha2, residenceArea, familyStructure, childrenCount, employmentType, educationLevel, industrySector, occupationCategory

Legacy CohortGateView only; the live flow from intro skips this screen. These five fields are optional until the user opens the AI consultation wizard or share hub profile editor.

Field	Description	Values (English labels)
`countryAlpha2`	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country of residence. Mapped to a macro region for sparse-data analytics.	iso3166Alpha2
`ageBand`	Ordinal age band.	under20: Under 20; twenties: 20s; thirties: 30s; forties: 40s; fifties: 50s; sixties: 60s; seventies: 70s; eightyPlus: 80+
`gender`	Gender (analytics).	male: Male; female: Female; other: Other; preferNot: Prefer not to say
`residenceArea`	Three-level urbanization band under the selected country: large metro area, regional hub / mid-size city, and small town / rural / other.	majorMetropolitan: Large metro area; midSizeUrban: Regional hub / mid-size city; smallTownRural: Small town, rural, or other
`familyStructure`	Household / family structure.	single: Single; partner: Partner; singleParent: Single parent; other: Other
`childrenCount`	Number of dependent children. Always available regardless of household type (e.g. divorced parents paying child support while single). Enter zero when none.	zero: 0; one: 1; two: 2; three: 3; fourPlus: 4 or more
`employmentType`	Primary employment / activity type.	fullTimeEmployee: Full-time employee; partTimeEmployee: Part-time employee; publicOrNonprofit: Public sector / nonprofit; executive: Executive / management owner; selfEmployedFreelance: Self-employed / freelance; student: Student; retiredUnemployed: Retired / unemployed
`educationLevel`	Highest completed education level.	highSchoolOrEquivalent: High school or equivalent (final education); vocational: Vocational school / junior college / vocational training; bachelor: University (bachelor's level); graduate: Graduate school (master's / doctoral level)
`industrySector`	Aggregated industry sector (ISIC-based).	agricultureForestryFishing: Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; miningManufacturingUtilities: Mining, Manufacturing, Utilities; construction: Construction; wholesaleRetailTransportHospitality: Wholesale, Retail, Trade, Transport, Accommodation and Food; informationCommunication: Information and Communication; financialInsuranceRealEstateProfessional: Financial, Insurance, Real Estate, Professional and Technical; publicAdminEducationHealthSocial: Public Administration, Education, Human Health and Social Work; otherServicesArtsEntertainmentHousehold: Other Services, Arts, Entertainment, Personal and Household
`occupationCategory`	Aggregated occupation category (ISCO-based).	managers: Managers; professionals: Professionals; techniciansAndAssociateProfessionals: Technicians and Associate Professionals; clericalSupportWorkers: Clerical Support Workers; serviceAndSalesWorkers: Service and Sales Workers; skilledAgriculturalForestryFisheryWorkers: Skilled Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Workers; craftAndRelatedTradesWorkers: Craft and Related Trades Workers; plantAndMachineOperatorsAndAssemblers: Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers; elementaryOccupations: Elementary Occupations; armedForcesOccupations: Armed Forces Occupations; homemakers: Homemakers; students: Students; unemployedOrOthers: Unemployed / Others

Live app experience (current)

Assessment flow

Intro explainer (what the test is and is not; expandable disclaimers on intro)
Questionnaire (wizard pages; A / B / C per item; strict N/A when objectively not applicable)
Optional subjective wellbeing gate (1–5, skippable, excluded from index)
Result screen (score, tier, category breakdown, self-analysis report, share/consult hub)

Subjective wellbeing (optional, excluded from index): Setting freedom aside for a moment, do you feel your current life is happy? Scale 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much).

Result screen

Personal Freedom Score (0–100) and tier label (C / B / A / S)
Per-category score breakdown (5 categories: economic, time, place, health, relationships)
Self-analysis report: per-question cards with chosen option and annotation

Primary action: After score overview and caution notice: open the share/consult hub ("Share or consult" card). Choose plain result copy for SNS or the 3-step AI consultation wizard.

AI consultation wizard

Build a copy-paste prompt for an external LLM. The prompt header instructs the LLM to load /about/ first for full question text, scoring, categories, and annotations—keeping mobile prompts short.

Step 1 — Anonymous profile: Summary with optional edit. Education, industry, and occupation are required before continuing. Cohort basics can be edited here.
Step 2 — Consultation task: Pick one task template (none selected by default).
Step 3 — Confirm and copy: Full prompt preview (title, rules, fixed data bundle, task). Optional edit before copying to clipboard.

Task templates (wizard step 2)

When a user picks one template, the app appends the English task body below to a copy-paste prompt together with their Personal Freedom Score, tier, category breakdown, anonymous profile summary, and compact per-question answers (Q:id:choice). Full question wording lives in All questions (English) on this page.

Some task bodies include the token __CONTEXT__ on its own line before the numbered instructions. The app replaces it with user-specific context before copy-paste (or removes the line when empty): counterfactualScenario → assumed premise; customProfileSimulation → simulated anonymous profile; residenceAreaInversion → current and flipped residence-area labels (3-step scale: large metro, regional hub, small town/rural); genderInversion → current and flipped gender labels (male ↔ female); figureFreedomSimulation → named historical figure or fictional character.

Default prompt header and rules (prepended by the app)

Question and scoring definitions: read https://personal-freedom-indicator.pages.dev/about/ first, then answer the "Task" below.

When referring to a question, include its Q id and full prompt text in the language of this chat (wording from the URL question list).

[Mandatory — do not skip] Start every reply with the disclaimer below verbatim. No paraphrase, translation, or omission. Leave one blank line after it, then continue with the main body.

[Notice]
This reply is AI speculation and may differ from reality.
Treat it as reference only; do not use it for definitive judgments or self-evaluation.

Rules: measures room for self-determination, not happiness or personal worth / no concrete medical, investment, employment, or treatment advice or score-improvement targets / do not call B/C "failures" / do not invent unsourced statistics, percentiles, or certain prophecies