ABOUT · THE MEASUREMENT MODEL
Dimensions first.
Letters second.
The KDI is a psychometric instrument for consensual power-exchange dynamics. It measures four bipolar dimensions on continuous scales and summarizes them as a four-letter code — the code is shorthand, the scores are the measurement.
The construct model
Four dimensions, each defined as a bipolar trait and read as a two-pole split.
| Dimension | Poles | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Power | D ↔ s | Who steers the dynamic — the disposition to direct or to be directed. |
| Sensation | S ↔ M | Which way intensity flows — the disposition to deliver or to receive it. |
| Channel | P ↔ F | Where the scene lands — in the mind or in the body. |
| Structure | R ↔ I | The shape of the scene — ritual and protocol, or instinct and improvisation. |
- Letters are threshold summaries, not categories of person. A score of 65 or above reads as the first pole, 35 or below as the second. The central band in between is reported as X — the Switch band: a measured position on the dimension, treated as a result in its own right rather than rounded to the nearest pole.
- Two context variables condition every reading. The Connection Frame records the relational context you answered under; the Intensity Dial (1–5) records a ceiling for how far you like to take things. The dial is a preference ceiling — never a consent floor.
The instrument
48 items, fixed scoring, reproducible by construction.
- Item design. 48 statements on a five-point agreement scale, twelve per dimension. Within each dimension, six items are keyed to each pole and reverse-scored — balanced keying, the standard control for acquiescence bias (the tendency to agree with statements regardless of content).
- Deterministic scoring. Axis scores are computed by a fixed formula from your raw responses — no hidden adjustment, no server-side discretion. The same answers produce the same result, every time, on any device.