Short answer: The ten "Friday nights" questions (Q1 to Q10) ask how much noise, risk and late evening you want. Of all ten categories, this one has the widest range of points. It is the one that can move your full result the most, and it is also the one that says the least about age and the most about temperament.
I'm Muhammad Husnain Zahid. The quiz above takes about a minute. Below I explain what these ten questions reward, group them by what they are really asking, and point out where I think the points are unfair. Every question is also on the full question list.
Why this category is the loudest one
On every question the options run from the most playful answer to the most settled one. In this category the distance between the two ends is bigger than anywhere else. Averaged over the ten questions, the first option is worth 11 points and the last is worth 59. Moving from first option to last on all ten would change your category average by about 48 points, and your full 100-question result by about 4.8.
Picking at random gives you about 32 here. The four option positions average about 11, 22, 37 and 59, so a category result near 22 means mostly second options and one near 59 means almost all fourth options.
The numbers that stand out
| Question | Option | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Q5, staying up past 2am | "Honestly, I can't remember. Sounds exhausting" | 70 |
| Q4, music too loud to talk over | "I say goodnight, and mean it" | 65 |
| Q3, the perfect holiday | "The same quiet place you've gone back to for years" | 62 |
| Q10, rain cancels everything | "Puddles. Free puddles." | 8 |
| Q2 and Q9, bouncy castle and the fair | "I'm first in the queue" / "The rides, obviously, all of them" | 9 each |
The 70 in Q5 is the highest single value in the whole test. It is also the biggest step between a third and a fourth option I found anywhere: the third option, "a deadline, a flight, or a new baby", is worth 39, and the fourth is worth 70. That is a 31-point jump for saying the idea of a late night sounds tiring. The next largest third-to-fourth step in any category is 24.
Three things the ten questions are really asking
Do you want to take part, or watch?
Q2 (a bouncy castle), Q7 (a ride with a warning sign) and Q9 (a fair) all have the same shape. The first option is joining in at full speed, worth 9, 10 and 9. The last option is staying outside: "I'll admire it from a safe distance with a drink" (57), "I'll hold the bags" (58) and "finding a bench and watching everyone else enjoy it" (57).
So three of the ten questions pay about 57 for not taking part. That is a lot to put on a choice that can have plenty of reasons. Some people dislike heights, some get motion sick, some are minding a child, some are recovering from an injury. None of that shows up in the points.
How loud and how late?
Q1, Q4 and Q6 are about company and noise. A quiet night in with the lights off by ten is worth 54 in Q1. Q4 is the question I find hardest to score fairly: the middle option is finding the one quieter room and staying there (44), the highest third option in the category. Saying goodnight is 65. Q6 puts the microphone at 11 and taking the photos instead at 55.
These are the questions that most depend on whether you are an introvert, and I have no way to tell that apart from age. A very quiet teenager picks the same options as a retired person and gets the same points.
How far ahead do you plan?
Q3 (holiday), Q5 (the last late night), Q8 (a trip leaving in an hour) and Q10 (the rain) are about planning and routine. Q8 has the narrowest spread in the category at 43 points, from "already in the car" (13) to "I'd rather this had been booked three weeks ago" (56). Q10 is the one I enjoy most. A rainy day is a quiet day for some people and a good day for others, and the scores 8 for puddles and 53 for quiet relief are just the two ends of that.
Where the evening points come from
I wrote some of the hundred questions myself, found some by searching what people post on social media, and asked friends and other people around me for more. The numbers on the options come from looking at how children, adults and older people around me think, and placing the four options along that line. For this category I pictured a child at a fair, an adult choosing between a party and dinner, and an older person who has stopped wanting either.
That means the points are my judgement. A study did not produce them, and nobody has checked them against real people's ages.
Where I think this category is unfair
It scores personality as age. Wanting a loud night out and wanting a quiet one are both common at every age. The quiz treats the quiet one as older, and I know that is only a pattern, not a rule.
Some options assume a lifestyle. Q1 mentions a party that runs past 1am, and Q2 mentions a drink. Plenty of people do not drink, or do not go to late parties for personal or religious reasons. For them, the first and last options may not describe anything they would do, and they end up choosing between the two middle ones.
The top option in Q5 is not a behaviour. Every other fourth option here is something you do, such as staying in a quiet room, holding the bags, or going back to the same place. "I can't remember, sounds exhausting" is a feeling about a late night. It still scores 70, more than any real action in the category.
It rewards staying out. If I rewrote the category, I would give the "watch and laugh" options a lower score than they have now, and I would add an option for people who join in slowly but happily.
Reading your evenings number
- Under 20: you mostly picked the playful options. You like noise, speed and last-minute plans.
- 20 to 45: a mix. You probably enjoy a good night out and a good night in, depending on the week.
- Above 45: you mostly picked the settled options. Open the list of your answers and see whether it was the three "stay out" questions (Q2, Q7, Q9) or the ones about sleep and planning that pushed it up.
Look at your answers rather than the number. Two people can both land on 50 here, one because they hate crowds and the other because they like routine. The category cannot separate them.
Why ten answers is a weak signal
This category is a tenth of the full test, and the full number is an average of all hundred answers. A single category can sit far from the final result. Someone who loves quiet evenings but is spontaneous about money, food and work will end up near the middle of the full test even with a very high score here.
It is also easy to move on the day. If you answer on a Friday after a long week, the last options look better than they would on a Sunday morning. Your answers on this page are saved only in your own browser, so you can try it again on a different day and compare.
To see how this fits with the other nine groups, take the full test. I explain how the whole number is made in How a Mental Age Score Is Really Worked Out, and what can change it in Can Your Mental Age Change?.
What this does not tell you
It is not a measure of how fun you are, how sociable you are or how healthy your sleep is. It is only a quiz for fun and self-reflection, and no study has validated it. If tiredness or low mood is getting in the way of your days, speaking to someone you trust or a professional is a sensible step, and the help resources page lists free, confidential support.
Sources and further reading
- How the whole number is built: the age guide and How a Mental Age Score Is Really Worked Out.
- Every question and answer option: the full question list.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Friday nights move my full result the most?
Its options are spread further apart than in any other category, about 48 points between the first and last option on average. Going from all first options to all last options moves the full result by about 4.8.
Does a high score here mean I am old at heart?
Not by itself. Preferring a quiet night is a matter of temperament, and it is common at every age. The category cannot tell a quiet teenager from a retired person.
What if I do not drink or go to late parties?
Some options mention a party past 1am or a drink, and they may not fit you. You will end up choosing between the middle options, which is a weakness of the questions, not of you.
Are my answers sent anywhere?
No. They stay in your own browser so you can come back to the quiz.