Based only on the times and dates of their births, 18 high school students were told that an expert in astrology would develop personality profiles for each of them. However, identical profiles were given to them and each was then asked to rate the validity of the profile. The result was a very high level of acceptance, similar to the findings of earlier studies in which profiles were presumably derived from personality tests.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ForerB. R.The fallacy of personal validation: A classroom demonstration of gullibility. J. abnorm. soc. Psychol., 1949, 44, 118–123.
