Your 12 Axes result is not one label but a stack of them. This guide walks through each layer, from the twelve raw scores to the historical figure you think most like, so you know exactly what you are looking at and how much weight to give it.
1. Twelve scores, each a split between two ends
Every axis shows a percentage toward its first end and the rest toward the second, so 70% Equality is also 30% Markets. Each score comes only from the statements about that axis, which is why two people with the same overall "lean" can look very different underneath. The methodology page shows the exact formula.
2. Seven labels per axis
Each axis turns its percentage into one of seven labels, from the strongest view at one end to the strongest at the other:
| Score toward the first end | Example on the economy axis |
|---|---|
| above 90% | Communist |
| 76–90% | Socialist |
| 61–75% | Social Democratic |
| 40–60% | Mixed Economic |
| 25–39% | Economic Liberal |
| 10–24% | Capitalist |
| below 10% | Extreme Capitalist |
The labels describe positions, not people: a "Socialist" score on one axis says nothing about your views on war or religion. Every axis has its own set, explained on its page in the 12 axes.
3. Your defining views and your type
Axes where you are at least eight points from the middle count as defining views. The three strongest become your one-sentence summary; 80% or more is described as a strong view and 63% or more as a clear one.
Your type, such as Internationalist Egalitarian, joins the two strongest: the second gives the adjective and the first the noun. If no axis is eight points from the middle, you are shown as a centrist, which is a real result, not a failure to commit.
4. Your closest ideology
The site compares you with 38 ideologies on the four axes every one of them is defined on: equality vs markets, security vs freedom, internationalist vs nationalist, and progressive vs traditional. The match is 100% minus the average distance, so 90% means you are close on all four, not that you agree with 90% of the ideology.
The full list, grouped from left to right on the economy:
- Economic left: Anarcho-Communism, Libertarian Socialism, Marxism, Leninism, Trotskyism, Democratic Socialism, Anarcho-Syndicalism and more.
- Centre-left: Social Democracy, Social Liberalism, Christian Democracy, Progressivism, Distributism, Technocracy.
- Centre: Centrism, Liberalism, Religious Anarchism.
- Centre-right: Moderate Conservatism, Right-Libertarianism, Right-Wing Populism.
- Economic right: Conservatism, Classical Liberalism, Neoliberalism, Objectivism, Anarcho-Capitalism and more.
See all 38 ideologies with a summary of each. Because only four axes are used, treat the top three matches together rather than fixating on the first.
5. The historical figures you think like
Unlike the ideology match, the figure match uses all twelve axes. Each of the 42 historical figures has a position wherever they took a clear stand, estimated from their writing and record. Axes where a figure took no stand count as a moderate gap, so figures who said little about many topics do not win by default.
A high match means your profile is shaped like theirs across many questions. It does not mean you would have agreed with every decision they made.
6. How much to trust your result
- Quick test (60 statements): good for a first picture; one answer can move an axis by ten points.
- Full test (288 statements): the steadier result, worth taking if a score surprises you.
- Near 50% on an axis means you weigh cases individually, not that you have no opinion.
If you want to compare, send a friend your result link and use Compare with a friend: their position appears as a marker on each of your bars.
Take the 12 Axes test or read how scoring works.