Do Horoscopes Tell the Truth? How to Market Your Business with the Barnum Effect
Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2025 9:55 am
In 1949, Bertram R. Forer decided to conduct experiments on his students. He created a personality test . On its basis, he prepared a description of character traits (thirteen sentences), which he gave to the students at the next class. They were delighted. It turned out that the professor perfectly captured the intricacies of their personality. They were all the more surprised when it turned out that everyone received the same description.
What is the trap that the students fell into? How is it possible that a dozen different people china rcs data could find the same description to be a perfect representation of who they are? That's because, as humans, we tend to perceive general characteristics as our own . Especially when they are positive. In psychology, this is called the Barnum effect .
Don't believe me? Read the description that Forer prepared for his students and tell me you don't see yourself in it:
You need people to like and admire you, but you are critical of yourself. You have some personality flaws, but you are able to compensate for them with what is good in you. You have great potential that still remains untapped. While on the outside you may seem disciplined and composed, on the inside you are often tormented by uncertainty and worries about many things. Sometimes you have serious doubts whether your decision was good or whether your actions were right. You like a certain amount of change and variety, and when you are beset by limitations you feel dissatisfied. You value your own independence of thought and do not accept other people's claims without convincing evidence. Life has taught you not to overdo it with honesty when opening up to someone. Sometimes you are open to people, approachable and sociable, but at other times you are closed, cautious and distant. Some of your dreams seem unrealistic.
What is the trap that the students fell into? How is it possible that a dozen different people china rcs data could find the same description to be a perfect representation of who they are? That's because, as humans, we tend to perceive general characteristics as our own . Especially when they are positive. In psychology, this is called the Barnum effect .
Don't believe me? Read the description that Forer prepared for his students and tell me you don't see yourself in it:
You need people to like and admire you, but you are critical of yourself. You have some personality flaws, but you are able to compensate for them with what is good in you. You have great potential that still remains untapped. While on the outside you may seem disciplined and composed, on the inside you are often tormented by uncertainty and worries about many things. Sometimes you have serious doubts whether your decision was good or whether your actions were right. You like a certain amount of change and variety, and when you are beset by limitations you feel dissatisfied. You value your own independence of thought and do not accept other people's claims without convincing evidence. Life has taught you not to overdo it with honesty when opening up to someone. Sometimes you are open to people, approachable and sociable, but at other times you are closed, cautious and distant. Some of your dreams seem unrealistic.