The Barnum Effect

Class,

According to our textbook reading this week, the Barnum Effect is the belief that a vaguely worded personality description will truly describe oneself when in reality it may describe almost anyone else also, sometimes referred to as the "Aunt Fanny Effect" because the same personality description might be applied to anyone 's Aunt Fanny (Cohen, 2013). According to Furnham, “this phenomenon occurs when people accept personality feedback about themselves because it is supposedly derived from personality assessment procedures” (Furnham, 2014). This effect was named after the showman P.T. Barnum because he was often quoted saying “a sucker is born every minute” (Vohs, 2018). This effect is also called “the Forer Effect,” and states that

These people will often use the Barnum effect to “convince people that their description of them is highly special and unique and could never apply to anyone else” (Vohs, 2018). They use it to sale their ability and to make money of people who wish to gain information about the future or even contact a departed loved one. There was even a paper that was published on using the Barnum Effect. According to Furnham, “Hyman wrote a paper that tried to explain the tricks conmen of one sort or another used to persuade the naïve client they know all about them” (Furnham, 2014). This was an author of a paper for the people who needed to persuade the people who came to

E., & Sturman, E.D. (2013). Psychological Testing and Assessment An Introduction to Tests and Measurement (Eighth Edition). McGraw-Hill New York, NY

Furnham, A. (2014). We 've Got Something for Everyone: The Barnum Effect. In Psychology Today. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sideways-view/201411/weve-got-something-everyone-the-barnum-effect

Vohs, K. D. (2018). Barnum Effect. In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Barnum-Effect

Whitbourne, S. (2010, August 10). Psychology Today. When it comes to personality tests, a dose of skepticism is a good thing. Retrieved February 22, 2018, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201008/when-it-comes-personality-tests-dose-skepticism-is-good-thing

Horoscopes (2018) Libra Daily Horoscope. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from