Misophonia is a decreased tolerance for particular sounds or cues associated with them. A trigger may produce intense irritation, anger, disgust, anxiety, distress, bodily tension, or an urgent need to escape. The response is usually linked to the sound's pattern, meaning, source, or context rather than simply how loud it is.
Autistic people can experience several different forms of sound sensitivity. Misophonia is not the same as finding most sounds painfully loud, fearing a sound, or becoming overloaded by a generally noisy environment, although these experiences can overlap. This questionnaire focuses on how reactions to particular sounds affect thoughts, emotions, behaviour, relationships, and everyday functioning.
The S-Five, or Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome Scale, was developed by Silia Vitoratou, Nora Uglik-Marucha, Chloe Hayes and Jane Gregory at King's College London and collaborating institutions.
Learn more about misophonia: The University of Sussex Misophonia Hub provides research-based information for people with misophonia, families, clinicians, and researchers, including guidance on related sound sensitivities and seeking professional help.
How to Answer
For each statement, choose a number from 0 (Not at all true) to 10 (Completely true), based on your current thoughts, experiences, and reactions.
The statements are shown in a random order, as specified by the questionnaire authors. Your answers stay in your browser and are not stored by Autistic Empire.
S-Five Misophonia Assessment
Your Results
Total S-Five Score
The total ranges from 0 to 250. In a representative UK adult sample, a score of 87 or above was the point that best distinguished people judged by specialist interview to be significantly burdened by misophonia. It is a screening threshold, not a diagnosis.
Your Five Dimensions
Each dimension ranges from 0 to 50. Higher scores mean stronger endorsement of the experiences described by that dimension. The scale does not publish separate clinical cut-offs for these five scores.
Understanding the Profile
The five scores describe different parts of the misophonic experience. They are not personality judgements. For example, a high Internalising score may show that reactions are creating shame or self-criticism, while a high Impact score may show that sound sensitivity is restricting work, relationships, or daily activities.
Consider seeking professional support when reactions cause substantial distress, restrict daily life, damage relationships, or create concern about safety. Assessment may also need to consider hearing conditions, hyperacusis, tinnitus, anxiety, trauma, migraine, sensory overload, and other possible contributors.
About the Trigger Checklist
The authors also developed the optional S-Five-T, a customizable checklist of trigger sounds, reaction types, and reaction intensity. It is a separate companion measure and is not required to calculate the 25-item S-Five score shown here.
Further Information and Support
If your score is high, or sound reactions are affecting your safety, relationships, work, education, or ability to take part in everyday life, the University of Sussex Misophonia Hub offers research-based information about misophonia, related sound sensitivities, management, treatment research, and seeking professional help.
Developers, Sources and Permission
Original S-Five: Vitoratou S, Uglik-Marucha N, Hayes C, Gregory J. Listening to People with Misophonia: Exploring the Multiple Dimensions of Sound Intolerance Using a New Psychometric Tool, the S-Five, in a Large Sample of Individuals Identifying with the Condition. Psych. 2021;3(4):639-662.
UK norms and threshold: Vitoratou S, Hayes C, Uglik-Marucha N, Pearson O, Graham T, Gregory J. Misophonia in the UK: Prevalence and norms from the S-Five in a UK representative sample. PLOS ONE. 2023;18(3):e0282777.
The S-Five is copyright King's College London, 2021. This non-commercial implementation reproduces the official statements and scoring with acknowledgement.