Astrology and Personality Types

For many years, people have opened a magazine or heard over the radio about their astrological sign. The more they read about their sign, the more they realized that the way they are is because of their sign. They use their sign as an excuse as to why something exciting happened to them instead of thinking they got it because they are the best person for the job. This skeptic is skeptical when someone says, “She is like that because she is an Aries.

” There is a lot more to person than just their sign. This paper will examine if a person’s personality can be predicted by their zodiac sign by looking at how the scientific method is applied, and how the method of tenacity plays a role in society’s belief in their astrological sign and their characteristics.

For centuries, people have been looking to the stars for an answer to a person’s personality. In the 3rd century the Babylonians looked to the stars to predict the outcome of one’s life. It wasn’t until the Ptolemies looked to the eclipse and divided it among 12 equal parts which would later become the zodiac signs. Each sign was given a horoscope by determining the longitudes and latitudes of the planets, they then rely on their knowledge of the person to predict their horoscope. (Pingree and Gilbert, 2018) Modern astrology has taken a different approach, but people are still attracted to the knowledge of their sign. Astrologers have tried convincing others that there could be a connection between signs and personality. Although, they have failed to make others believe, the continuing research into astrology and personality types can be explained by Pierce’s method of tenacity.

Pierce’s method of tenacity is when someone stubbornly believes in something just because it has been around for a while. (Rosnow and Rosenthal p. 3) As stated before, astrology has been around since the 3rd century and because of that, people believe in their astrological sign. They believe that they are adventurous because that is a characteristic of their sign, when it could mean that they get bored easily and seeking out an adventure is their way of relieving some of that boredom. They would rather listen to their own beliefs about themselves rather than what someone is telling them.

To take the persons’ belief that their astrological sign has something to do with their personality is something scientists are trying to prove. Scientists use the scientific method to prove their hypotheses about signs and personalities. They will put that hypotheses through a test such as a personality test and then compare it to different astrological charts to see if there is a correlation between the two. The scientists will then make sure that others can replicate their work to get the same results they did.

In the twentieth century, scientists have conducted research into astrological signs and a person’s personality. In 1978 Mayo, White and Eysenck gave their subjects a personality test and compared those results to their sign. They concluded that there is a pattern among the twelve signs. Those born with a fire sign were more extroverted and those born with a water sign were more neurotic. (Coetzee and Costello,1980) This experiment shows that each sign has something in common with one another; It doesn’t necessarily prove that there is a correlation between astrological signs and personality.

Other researchers have compared astrological signs to Jung’s four basic types of typology. Although, the researcher concluded that they have some differences: According to Jung’s four types you can be either extroverted or introverted. The signs are extroverted or introverted but in polarity to one another. She also concluded that it is difficult to base your personality type on your sign. A person may have all characteristic in common with their sign or two functions that are just as equally strong. (Campagnola, 2010) When looking at your own sign’s characteristics you can’t conclude that you have strong leadership skills because of your sign. A person’s personality comes from many different factors, that all play a role in making up who you are as a person.

Scientists have shown that there is little correlation between someone’s astrological sign and their personality traits. They have shown that the signs have something in common but it’s not a determining factor. You have a lot of characteristics of your sign or you may just have two important characteristics. After doing some research, I am still a little skeptical when someone says, “they are adventurous because they are an Aries,” but I won’t take it as they are only comparing the person’s sign to the person. I will take it as it’s their way of making sense of their world. 

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