Barnum effect

The Barnum effect, also called the Forer effect, occurs when individuals say that a certain personality assessment accurately describes them, when in fact the assessment is general enough to apply to anyone. This can be applied to astrology, fortune telling, and some crappy personality tests.

In 1948, psychologist Bertram Forer handed out a personality test to some students and instructed them to rate how well the results were from a scale of 0 (very poor) to 5 (excellent). The results, he stated, were unique. Actually, Forer gave them all the same analysis, which he had culled from various horoscopes:

You have a great need for other people to like and admire you. You have a tendency to be critical of yourself. You have a great deal of unused capacity which 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 outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure inside. At times you have serious 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. You have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be pretty unrealistic. Security is one of your major goals in life.

As you can see, this paragraph is broad enough to encompass lots of people's feelings about themselves. I could have probably rated this a 4, and that's what Forer's students also thought; on average, the score was 4.26.

The term Barnum effect comes from P.T. Barnum's alleged statement, "there's a sucker born every minute," which in this case refers to how gullible people can be led to believe lots of stupid things. Hence, astrology and reflexology.