The popularity of astrology as an indicator of the superstition of the people

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Let's be honest - who of us at least once did not look into our horoscope, even if just out of curiosity? Astrology has long ceased to be considered a serious science and in our society is usually perceived as innocent charlatanism.

However, the question remains, which is not so easy to find an answer: why is astrology still so popular? And how do achievements in genetics or artificial intelligence coexist in one society and the belief that the position of planets and stars in the sky determines the fate of a person?

Horoscope for a princess

Astrology as a system of understanding the world and our place in it originated several thousand years ago and was known in early Mesopotamia, Ancient China, Ancient Egypt, as well as in Greece and Rome. During the Renaissance, in the 15th and 16th centuries, after about a thousand-year hiatus associated with the influence of Christianity, astrology again became widespread in the West. At one time it was even taught at universities, but after the works of Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo saw the light, the scientific value of this doctrine was recognized as questionable. The subsequent development of the methods of rational thought forever deleted astrology from the list of sciences.

How, then, did horoscopes manage to firmly establish themselves on the back pages of today's newspapers? And why do many modern people familiar with astronomy and the scientific picture of the world continue to resort to astrological predictions? It turns out that we owe this to the adventurous editor of the British tabloid Sunday Express and the royal family.

On August 21, 1930, the daughter of the future King George VI, Princess Margaret, was born. Since the Wall Street crash a year earlier, this has become one of the most interesting events for the British press. Of course, the news of the birth of the princess hit the front pages of all newspapers, but the royal family is the royal family, so the journalists could not tell any exclusive details.

As a weekly newspaper, the Sunday Express had to offer material about the newborn in an unusual perspective, and at the moment of inspiration, editor-in-chief John Gordon had a really brilliant idea - he decided to publish a horoscope that would tell readers about the future fate of the royal person. At first, he wanted to invite William Warner, also known as Heiro, to the editorial office, a clairvoyant, palmist and a real star of the then astrology, but he was busy. Instead of Warner, Gordon was referred to his assistant, Richard Harold Naylor. Thanks to his consultations in the next issue of the Sunday Express, an article was published entitled "What the stars predict for the new princess."

The astrologer promised Margaret a life "full of turbulent events" and also predicted that "something of great importance to the royal family and the nation will happen around her seventh year." Coincidentally, Princess Edward VIII's uncle abdicated in 1936 and Margaret's father became king. Seeing what interest the royal horoscope aroused in the public, Gordon decided to release several more predictions. Some of them turned out to be successful, and thus the weekly column 'What The Stars Foretell' was born.

Today horoscopes can be found in many publications, from Cosmopolitan to Rossiyskaya Gazeta. In pursuit of the interest of readers, they sometimes take on a variety of forms - and now, by the sign of the zodiac, you can find out what kind of fruit you are, a summer resident and even a Pokemon. Astrology and Popular Religion in the Modern West reports that approximately 90 percent of adults in Western culture know their zodiac sign. Of these, about 50 percent agree with his characteristics: Aries are stubborn, twins are windy, and scorpions are temperamental.

Nevertheless, let's make a reservation right away: science has not yet been able to find any reliable correlations between the characteristics of the zodiac sign and the personality traits of those who are born under it. In 1985, a study was published in the journal Nature by the American physicist Sean Carlson. In the course of one experiment, the scientist showed that astrologers are not able to compare a person's natal chart with his personal characteristics - their results corresponded to a random choice. In another experiment, ordinary people chose from several horoscopes the one that best described their personality traits and character - and here, too, statistically significant connections were not found.

In addition, science has not been able to find any connection between the zodiac compatibility of couples and the number of divorces, or between the zodiac sign and the choice of profession, or between the influence of Mars and the propensity of people to criminality. A long-term study of two thousand volunteers born at the same time (and therefore having the same zodiac sign) also showed that they do not have similar character traits. This suggests an obvious conclusion: astrology, alas, does not have any predictive power.

Order and tranquility

Today, according to VTsIOM, 31 percent of Russians believe in horoscopes (41 percent among women, 42 percent among 18-24 year olds), that is, almost every third resident of our country. Despite the widespread use of the Internet, this figure has not actually changed over the past 15-20 years (33 percent in 2000), although the share of doubters increased from 56 to 62 percent. Overseas, the situation is about the same: a poll among US residents showed that 26 percent of Americans believe in astrology. This is slightly less than in UFOs (32 percent), but more than in witches (23 percent).

Why do residents of modern cities continue to read horoscopes and believe in them?

Primarily because they give our life a sense of order. The Atlantic cites the opinion of developmental psychologist Monisha Pasupathi: although she herself, says Monisha, does not believe in astrology at all, she understands that this teaching “provides [people] with a very clear basis for explaining [the world] ".

Indeed, horoscopes help to sort out the insane events that happen in our lives. The guy does not call after the date, because he is interfered with by Mercury retrograde. I react sharply to criticism, but what to expect from a person who has Mars in Virgo. When Jupiter enters the tenth house, the boss will definitely appreciate my efforts at work. Everything that happens in life seems less scary and unpleasant when it has a simple and logical explanation.

According to Chris French, a professor of the psychology of belief in the paranormal at Goldsmiths College London, regular reading of astrological predictions in newspapers helps modern people gain "a sense of control and a basis for understanding what happens in life." In 2009, a survey by iVillage found that 33 percent of astrology.com readers check their horoscope before interviewing a potential employer; 35 percent - before starting a new relationship; 33 percent - before buying a lottery ticket. Thus, a large part of people are trying to cope with the unknown with the help of astrology.

Further, statistics show that a person tends to refer to horoscopes in times of stress. A small study conducted in 1982 by psychologist Graham Tyson showed that people consult with astrologers in response to difficult life situations associated with a change in social status or a break in relationships. One and the same person is capable of resorting to the horoscope under conditions of high stress as a means of adapting to changes, while under low stress levels, he will treat astrology with distrust. Margaret Hamilton, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin, also noted in her research that people who trust astrological predictions tend to be more nervous and anxious.

“In our culture, the upbringing of children takes place in a very violent way, and people from the very beginning got used to being in the system, got used to being told what to do. The life path of an ordinary person is straight, like an arrow, he is drawn in school. It seems to me that astrology exploits the same practices. When adults find themselves in a dead end, they come to someone who tells them: do this,”says Anna Silnitskaya, PhD in Psychology and Consultant Psychology, founder of the Re-Woman Facebook community.

How it works

Part of the reason for astrology's vitality lies in the fact that it uses a very general and vague language. The main commandment of any fortuneteller is not to go into details. Most of the horoscopes published in the media use very streamlined wording: "this week you will have to work a little", "the afternoon will be pleasant", "the pursuit of light pleasures will not lead to anything good." As practice shows, it is precisely such vague descriptions that people attribute to high accuracy.

In 1948, psychologist Bertram Forer set up an interesting experiment. He conducted a special test among his students in order to compose a personal portrait of each of them based on its results. A week later, the psychologist handed each test participant, instead of a real individual characteristic, a vague text taken from the horoscope in the newspaper. And he offered to evaluate its accuracy on a five-point scale, where 5 means "excellent". Among the characteristics were, for example, the following:

“You need sympathy and admiration from others, while at the same time you are prone to self-criticism. While you have some disadvantages, in general you are able to compensate for them. You have significant opportunities that you have not yet realized for your own good. Despite the apparent discipline and self-control, at heart you may feel anxious and insecure. From time to time you doubt the decision you made and worry if you did the right thing."

“You agree to some variety and change. You don't like all sorts of restrictions. In addition, you pride yourself on the independence of your thinking and do not believe the statements of others without sufficient justification. You find it unwise to open up too much to others. Sometimes you are friendly, welcoming, and helpful, while other times you are reserved, wary, and withdrawn. Some of your aspirations are not very realistic."

The average score for Forer's subjects was 4.26 - impressive enough for a group of students. Later, the study was repeated several times, but the result invariably fluctuated at about the same high level.

You can recall another experiment conducted by Michel Gauquelin in 1968. The scientist published an ad in the Ici-Paris magazine inviting everyone to send him their name, address, date and place of birth and receive a personal horoscope. About 500 people responded to the offer. Each of them received a 10-page horoscope, a self-addressed envelope and a questionnaire. Of the first 150 people who sent Gauquelin a completed questionnaire, 90 percent agreed that the horoscope accurately reflected their character, and another 80 percent said that friends and relatives recognized them in the description of Gauquelin. However, all 500 of Gauquelin's respondents received the same horoscope, compiled by a computer program for Dr. Marcel Petoit, a serial killer.

People who read horoscopes are partly predisposed to "adjust" their image to the description of an astrologer. No wonder the Forer effect is also called the Barnum effect - an American showman who is credited with the phrase: "We have something for everyone."Chris French explains this phenomenon as follows: “If you really believe in the system, you yourself will make the prediction more specific than it is. Most of the days of most people are a mixture of good and bad, and … if you are told that something good will happen today, any event on that day will look like a confirmation of the forecast."

Clients of astrologers are likely to ignore implausible statements and agree with fairly general statements, simply because there is something personally meaningful to them. Here, two psychological mechanisms come into force at once - subjective validation and selective memory. Thanks to the first, we find connections and meaning where there are none, and the second allows us to forget the mistakes of the predictor.

“Once you have a conviction that astrology is real, a tendency to validate your point of view can come into play. It forces us to seek evidence for our beliefs and ignore conflicting facts. In general, today there are hundreds of cognitive biases, and perhaps other mechanisms also play a role,”explains Joseph McKines, Associate Professor at the HSE Faculty of Social Sciences.

Benefit or harm

In part, horoscopes help us organize our knowledge about ourselves. “Astrology is not suitable for everyone, but even among those who do not take it seriously, there are people who read horoscopes - and I am no exception. In an attempt to explain to myself why I am doing this, I came to the following conclusion. Horoscopes always contain a very rich description of personality and personality traits, and if the astrologer has sufficient experience and cultural level, it can be very complex and curious. By choosing parts of these descriptions, we can try to relate ourselves and our personality to them. Horoscopes provide a language in which I recognize myself, I take it and insert it into my narrative about myself,”says Anna Silnitskaya.

In addition, horoscopes are capable of delivering psychological comfort. It is important to note that people are more likely to believe in favorable predictions and descriptions. Many studies have found evidence that positive or socially desirable characteristics are more often perceived to be true. Margaret Hamilton also found that people tend to believe more horoscopes that describe them well. By the way, the media actively use this weakness of their readers. About 70 percent of the information in newspaper horoscopes is positive, which is much more than in other sections.

However, not everyone will agree with the statement about the harmlessness of horoscopes. Primarily because astrology positions itself as a science, despite the fact that it is not. A poll conducted by sociologists from the Institute for Statistical Research and Economics of Knowledge of the State University-Higher School of Economics showed that 68 percent of Russians consider astrology a science. According to this indicator, Russia is in 29th place in the world. In the United States, the percentage of people who believe in the scientific basis of astrology is 42, and in Romania - 62.

In some cases, belief in horoscopes can lead to real negative consequences. For example, the Zarplata.ru job search service found that every sixth Russian was asked at least once at an interview about their zodiac sign, and three percent of those surveyed did not receive a job because of the “inappropriate” sign. In addition, astrological predictions can influence behavior and success in assignments - and this does not necessarily lead to positive consequences.

Richard Dawkins, an English ethologist and evolutionary biologist, spoke rather harshly about astrology in The Independent in 1995: “Its pre-Copernican amateur use discredits and demeans astronomy as Beethoven did in a commercial advertising video. It also offends psychology as a science and the diversity of the human person.”The Russian theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner Vitaly Ginzburg spoke about astrology in a similar vein in the journal Science and Life:

“So, astrology is a typical pseudoscience, and the advice of astrologers is just nonsense, nonsense. Why print such predictions and mislead people? True, one has to deal with such an opinion: of course, astrological forecasts are nonsense, but who believes them, reading them is just innocent fun. I do not agree with this opinion."

However, one simple rule should not be forgotten: sometimes people make decisions based on a logical and rational analysis of facts, and sometimes they do not. “The views and opinions of most people are not always based on accurate empirical evidence. There are many reasons why you believe what you believe, and in some cases you do it simply because it feels good,”says Chris French. Astrology brings self-confidence to someone, to someone it flatters, and to someone it helps to survive difficult moments in life.

The main thing to remember is that an astrological forecast does not actually predict the future. In anticipation of the realization of the prediction, a person himself begins to act and interpret the reactions of others in such a way that ultimately provokes its implementation (the Rosenthal effect). And if it seems to you that today is a good day for you, because the stars are so aligned, then it is not at all about them. And this is good - after all, having free will and not depending on the Moon in Capricorn is still more pleasant.