Barnum effect - Wikipedia

#BarnumEffect a common psychological phenomenon whereby individuals give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically to them, yet which are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a broad range of people.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnum_...

aini: Have personality tests in East Asia gone too far? | #MBTI #Psychology #EastAsia #Korea #China #Pseudoscience #SocialLubricant #EgoIdentity #BarnumEffect #CognitiveBias #FlatteryEffect #SubjectiveValidation #SenseOfSelf #Introspection #Introversion #Extroversion
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT_a...

Spiritual spam, politely returned to sender
Reminder: vague ‘readings’ are designed to fit everyone. If it’s not specific, it’s not psychic — it’s marketing
#Phishing #ScamAlert #LogicOverHype #DarkHumor
#BarnumEffect

The #BarnumEffect “Cognitive Bias” Public Domain Image by Michael Nuccitelli, Psy.D. #iPredator, NYC – #Psychology, Forer Effect, #ConfirmationBias, Perceptual Distortion, Self-Deception

What is the Barnum Effect? The Barnum Effect (also known as the Forer Effect) is a well-documented cognitive bias in psychology where people rate vague, general personality descriptions as highly accurate and personally tailored to them — even though those same statements could apply to almost anyone. Classic Demonstration (Forer's Experiment) In 1948, psychologist Bertram Forer gave his students what they believed was an individualized personality assessment based on a test they had taken. A week later, he handed each student the exact same paragraph of feedback, compiled from horoscope-like sources and deliberately vague statements. Students were asked to rate how accurate the description was for them personally (on a scale of 0–5). The average rating was 4.26 (very high), with many students finding it remarkably insightful. Here are some typical statements from that original "personality vignette" (often called Barnum statements): 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 are extroverted, affable, sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be pretty unrealistic. These read as insightful when applied to oneself, but lose their specificity when you realize they're designed to fit a very broad range of people. Why It Happens Several factors make us susceptible: Positive framing — Statements are usually flattering or balanced (we accept praise more readily). Self-reference — We actively search for ways the description matches our own life experiences (confirmation bias plays a role). Authority — When the description comes from a perceived expert (psychologist, psychic, astrologer, or even an online quiz), we give it more weight. Vagueness + specificity illusion — The statements are general enough to be true for most, but include enough conditional language ("at times," "tend to") to feel nuanced. Everyday Examples Reading a daily horoscope and thinking "this is spot on for what happened today / how I'm feeling." Feeling a tarot card reading, psychic, or palm reading was uncannily accurate. Taking an online personality quiz (e.g., "Which Disney character are you?" or pseudo-psychological tests) and strongly identifying with the generic result. Believing a vague fortune-cookie message or meme perfectly describes your current life situation. The effect is named after showman P.T. Barnum, who reportedly said "there's a sucker born every minute" and was famous for creating broad appeals that made everyone feel personally addressed. Understanding the Barnum Effect is useful for building critical thinking about personality assessments, astrology, certain self-help claims, and even some marketing or cold-reading techniques. It highlights how easily our desire for insight and validation can override objective scrutiny of vague information.

Thank You, @Grok – What is the #BarnumEffect? x.com/i/grok/share...

John Oliver on psychics: 'A vast underworld of unscrupulous vultures' The Last Week Tonight host breaks down a ‘reckless’ industry of mediums and how ‘TV actively enables this ghoulishness’

From 2019. John Oliver explaining the difference between cold reading and hot reading.

Clue: it isn't the temp of a person reading a book.

Thanks, John! @lastweektonight.com
#BarnumEffect #ConJobs #ReadingPeople

web.archive.org/web/20190225...

"To think out-of-the-box and reimagine marketing in the modern age." : Already sounds like a red flag, isn’t it? (Or utterly BS if you prefer) #OnBrand #Marketing #JimmyFallon #BarnumEffect

Original post on radikal.social

This was a new thought: That LLM bots come across as convincing in a similar way that horoscopes do. In social psychology, it's called the Barnum effect. Using vague enough language while giving a highly particular description (of someone's personality), gives people the experience that it is […]

Ein KI-generiertes Icon zeigt eine Sprechblase, in der eine stilisierte Schneekugel zu sehen ist mit angedeuteten Objekten drumherum.

#CogitiveBias #BarnumEffect

Unser Verstand neigt dazu, Zusammenhänge herzustellen. Dann fällt es uns leicht, nebulöse Aussagen so zu interpretieren, dass sie spezifisch und persönlich erscheinen. Horoskope sind ein Beispiel. Wie können Dinge so interpretiert werden, dass sie auf jeden zutreffen?