Welcome to letter #6 of The Behaviorist

A newsletter that aims to make you a borderline behavioral scientist.

Each week, I drop a letter that unmasks human behavior and social biases to help you outsmart other’s actions and stay ahead.

Let’s get going.

Table of Contents

• Welcome to letter #6 of The Behaviorist

• Bias of The Week - The Barnum Effect

  • What is The Barnum Effect?

  • Roots of The Barnum Effect

  • Real-Life Examples of The Barnum Effect in Life

    • 1. In Professional Life:

    • 2. In Personal Life:

    • 3. In Society and Education:

    • 4. In Politics:

  • How Could Someone Use This Bias Against You

  • Bias Buster - How to Outmaneuver People Using This …

  • Parting Words

Bias of The Week - The Barnum Effect

Consider the following scenarios and examples:

Have you ever wondered how clairvoyants make a living?

Or have you read your horoscope one day and thought, "Wow, that's so accurate!".

Ever taken a personality test and marveled at how well it described you? (ENTJ here for fun).

I think you’re nodding yes with me too.

Here’s another one.

Imagine you're at a job interview, and the interviewer says, "You have a strong desire to be liked but you also have a tendency to be critical of yourself."

Did you just think, "Wow, they really understand me"?

All of these situations are precisely how the Barnum effect works.

The agenda is simple. By the end of this post, you'll understand:

1. What the Barnum effect is and the science behind it

2. How it affects your thinking and self-perception

3. Examples of where it shows up in your daily life

4. How people might use it against you

5. And how to overcome it to become a more critical thinker

P.S. If you want to read this post in a logic tree, download the image below.

What is The Barnum Effect?

The Barnum effect, also known as the Forer effect, is a cognitive bias where we believe that personality descriptions apply specifically to us, despite the fact that the description is actually vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people..

You see, these descriptions are often crafted to be universally applicable, yet we tend to accept them as uniquely insightful about ourselves.

This is how clairvoyants make a living.

They ask you some general questions for you to elaborate on. Then, they go on and draw conclusions and ideas that best reflect most of what you said or believe to be.

In other words, they appeal to your ideal state and outcome.

This effect is particularly potent when the statements are framed positively and include phrases like "at times" or "you have a tendency to".

As you can tell, all of this is there to make them more relatable and persona

The term "Barnum effect" was first identified by psychologist Bertram Forer in a 1948 experiment.

However, it was named after P.T. Barnum, the showman who famously said,

This statement reflects the gullibility of people when it comes to accepting such generalized statements as personal truths. (savage Barnum!)

Roots of The Barnum Effect

The Barnum effect is deeply rooted in how our brains process information about ourselves:

1. Self-Serving Bias: We tend to accept positive descriptions of ourselves more readily.

2. Confirmation Bias: We focus on information that confirms our existing beliefs about ourselves.

3. Subjective Validation: We attribute truth to statements based on our personal feelings rather than objective evidence.

4. Need for Self-Understanding: We have a strong desire to understand and categorize ourselves.

Neuroscientific studies have shown that when people receive personality feedback, even if it's false, the brain regions associated with self-reflection and reward processing are activated.

This suggests that we may derive a sense of validation or self-worth from personality assessments, regardless of their accuracy.

Moreover, the Barnum effect is closely related to other cognitive biases:

1. Illusory Correlation: We perceive relationships between things when no such relationship exists.

2. Selective Perception: We tend to interpret ambiguous information in a way that aligns with our existing beliefs.

Think of this bias as a mental trap that comes from our desire to understand ourselves and feel special.

The more vague and positive a description is, the more likely we are to accept it as true for us specifically.

This is why you might find yourself nodding along to horoscopes, personality tests, or even fortune cookie messages.

So let's recap.

In a nutshell, the Barnum effect:

1. Makes us accept vague, general descriptions as uniquely applicable to ourselves

2. Leads to uncritical acceptance of personality assessments and pseudoscientific practices

3. Statements from perceived authoritative figures (clairvoyants for example) are more readily accepted as accurate.

4. Can result in poor decision-making based on false self-understanding

Real-Life Examples of The Barnum Effect in Life

1. In Professional Life:

1. Job candidates accepting vague, positive feedback from personality tests in order to pass through the culture-fit test.

2. Employees interpreting general performance reviews as personally insightful

3. Managers using broad, flattering descriptions to motivate team members but some might think the manager was speaking about them or highlighting their performance.

2. In Personal Life:

1. Believing that horoscopes or tarot readings provide unique insights into your life

2. Accepting vague relationship advice as specifically applicable to your situation

3. Interpreting fortune cookie messages as personally meaningful

3. In Society and Education:

1. Students accepting general career aptitude test results as definitive guidance

2. People believing in pseudoscientific practices like palm reading or phrenology

3. Consumers buying products based on generalized marketing claims by creating ads or content that is appealing to a wide variety of people.

FACT- The Greatest Showman, The 2017 musical film, was about P.T. Barnum's life which highlights how he paved the way for modern-day marketing tactics that exploit the Barnum effect.

4. In Politics:

1. Politicians using universally appealing statements that voters interpret as personally relevant

2. Voters interpreting broad policy promises as specifically addressing their individual concerns.

Interesting Fact- Donald Trump: The former U.S. president has been compared to P.T. Barnum, using "truthful hyperbole" and vague, attention-grabbing statements that resonate with his supporters, even if they are exaggerated or untrue.

So as you can tell, it's pretty common and present across all areas of our life.

Now this takes me to the next section.

How Could Someone Use This Bias Against You

1. Manipulation: Crafting vague, positive statements to gain your trust or compliance

2. Scams: Using generalized "psychic" readings or personality assessments to extract money or personal information

3. Marketing: Creating broad advertising claims that many people will interpret as personally relevant

4. Cults or Extremist Groups: Using your emotions or life experiences against you by calling out some of the common feelings or ideas that are the outcome of a terrible past experience.

5. Flattery: Excessive flattery can be a tool for manipulation. By making you feel special through praise, the person can influence your opinions or decisions.

6. Performance Reviews: Managers might use generic positive feedback that seems tailored to you, such as "You are a valuable team player." This can create a false sense of achievement or loyalty, even if the feedback lacks personal specificity.

While the Barnum effect can make us vulnerable to manipulation, it's important to note that not all uses of this effect are malicious.

Many self-help books, motivational speakers, and even some therapeutic approaches use generalized statements that people find personally relevant, which can sometimes lead to positive outcomes.

So look for the context and environment you might have this effect on display as stated above and discern, be critical.

Bias Buster - How to Outmaneuver People Using This Bias and Get Your Way

So if you've noticed yourself falling for vague descriptions or personality assessments, keep the following in mind:

1. Practice Critical Thinking

Actively question whether a description is truly specific to you or if it could apply to many people.

2. Look for Specificity

Be skeptical of vague, general statements. Look for concrete, specific information that truly applies to your unique situation.

3. Seek Objective Feedback

Instead of relying on generalized assessments, ask for specific feedback from people who know you well.

4. Consider Alternative Interpretations

When you encounter a description that seems to fit you perfectly, try to think of how it might apply to others as well. Of course, some compliments and praise can be well deserved so take it all in!

5. Be Aware of Your Biases

Recognize that you're more likely to accept positive, flattering descriptions. Be especially critical of these.

6. Look for Evidence

Don't just accept statements about yourself. Look for concrete evidence in your life that supports or refutes these claims.

Remember, true self-understanding comes from introspection, specific feedback, and experiences, not from vague, generalized descriptions that can be used on you, me and pretty much everyone around.

Parting Words

So, there you have it.

A crash course in the Barnum Effect bias.

Remember, the next time you're nodding along to a horoscope or marveling at how well a personality quiz "gets" you, pause for a moment.

You're not necessarily being insightful, you might just be falling for a well-crafted generalization.

Here's your action item for the week:

Think about a time you recently felt a personality description or assessment was uniquely accurate for you.

Was the Barnum effect at play? Do you think it was deserved or applied?

Share your experience (anonymously, if you'd like) in the comments below!

Until next time, stay skeptical!