What's your star sign?
Astrology has
been around since around 2000BC in Chaldea, the area which now consists of
Iraq, Syria and Turkey, when astrology and astronomy were not so different1.
Astrology studies the influence of distant cosmic objects, usually stars and
planets, on human lives. Now, astrology is usually seen in magazines and
newspapers in the form of horoscopes.
For a lot of
people, horoscopes are a bit of fun and not to be taken too seriously but
others define their personality or even life choices by their star sign.
Science has proven time and time again that there is no link between the stars
and a person’s life. So why do people place so much emphasis on this celestial
pseudoscience?
Studies suggest
that those who have more of an authoritarian personality are more likely to
believe in astrology and the same was found in those who follow a faith2.
Some attribute this belief to those deemed illiterate in science however; a
study carried out at the University of Arizona found that 48% of science majors
thought that astrology had some scientific holding3. In other
studies it was found that the more generalised and positive a horoscope is, the
more well received it is, even in those who are sceptical4, 5.
This cynical
belief may come from a place of having nothing to lose; horoscopes tend to be
free or very cheap so the cost is very low whereas the benefit, even if it is
just a boost of self-esteem, outweighs the cost3.
The thought that
astrology is scientific may be due to confusion between astrology and astronomy
as in a survey carried out by the European Commission 70% of participants
marked astrology as scientific and when replaced by horoscopes only 13% did6.
So what does the
science community say about astrology? Well, some scientists claim that, while
they are not 100% about star signs, the month in which you are born could have
an effect on your chances of developing schizophrenia or bipolar disorder7,
8. However, this has been met with quite a bit of controversy and
criticism9.
There have also
been many studies surrounding astrological signs and their effect on people’s
lives, which have mostly proven astrologists wrong. Interestingly, one study
found a small correlation between star sign and career paths, but that was one
study. Most scientists agree that astrology is a pseudoscience due the lack of
progression or change in the practise and that there are many different
theories surrounding personality traits in modern times10.
Astrology was
developed in a time that most people had a magical world view and placing trust
and belief in the stars may have given comfort to many people, however, in
modern times we have a lot more evidence based explanations of our behaviours11.
References:
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