Does This Describe You?

Hey, you! Yes... you. This is your personality description. On a scale of 0 to 5, how accurate is it?


You have a need for other people to like and admire you. You have a tendency to be critical of yourself. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serous doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You pride yourself as an independent thinker, and do not accept others' statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank revealing yourself to others. At times you are an extrovert, affable and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.


This personality test was devised by a man named Betram Forer in a famous experiment in psychology. Forer selected random phrases from an astrology book and pieced it together into the description you just read. He gave this description to all of his college students (he told them that it was based on results of a test score), asking them to determine how closely the description matched their personality, on a scale of 0 to 5 (5 being most accurate). The results amazed him- 87% of his students marked a 4 or 5!


Why is this? Well, you may have noticed that most of the statements in the personality description are very vague. I can confidently say that most people want others to like or admire them. Also, there's some flattery present. Who wouldn't pride themselves as an independent thinker? More importantly, who, if told they were an independent thinker, want to deny it?

So, next time you look at your horoscope, think very carefully about what you're reading. Just how many people would this apply to?


Ylerecnis,
N


(The information from this blog was found in Quirkology, by Richard Wiseman, P.h. D.)