Barnum Effect

Acceptance of vague, generic personality descriptions as uniquely self-descriptive, the engine of horoscopes.

Specifications & Metrics

type

Social

introduced

1949

originator

Bertram Forer

Core Principles & Analysis

• Forer gave 39 students the same sketch drawn from a newsstand astrology book; their average accuracy rating topped 4 out of 5.
• People rate the same generic text as more accurate when told it was prepared for them individually.
• The effect explains the persuasive feel of astrology, graphology, and some popular personality tests.

Sources

• Forer (1949), JASP — DOI 10.1037/h0059240