The dark side of personality tests and horoscopes
Design by Gayathri Baskaranathan.
Gayathri Baskaranathan, Staff Writer
In the ever-changing world of AI, technology and apps can quite literally accomplish tasks from getting groceries delivered to your home to finding the perfect outfit for a night out, which can increase standards of living. Another creation gets added to the mix, except this one has been existing for millions of years: horoscopes and personality tests. Since the dawn of time, ancient cultures had beliefs about stargazing - yes, the stars were the "star of the show" back then. After all, stargazing was not just a pastime. It was a way of predicting the way to travel, the way to count time, the way to understand where to go when you're lost. Over time, these observations evolved into systems of meaning and prediction, giving way to astrology and horoscopes. Today, personality tests and horoscopes remain widely popular, with many people using them to explain their questionable behaviors, make unsound decisions, and form assumptions about others.
The popularity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) has led some individuals to use personality types when evaluating friendships and romantic relationships, often assuming that certain types are naturally more compatible than others. MBTI types changed people's lives so drastically that the negative impacts that this harmless personality test had on the Chinese students were shocking, as the MBTI didn't necessarily lead to anxiety; the mediating effects of ego identity, plus ensuring that a positive impression was maintained amongst their peers, did. Horoscopes are another type of personality differentiator. They have led many people to chase a phenomenon called "What's your horoscope?" where friendships, life partners, and more are all based on what type of horoscope they are. Some people might say, "I could never be friends with an Aries, or they just don't fit well with my Capricorn energy."
On the social media platform TikTok, the horoscope craze has been running rampant as many people go online and express their views on how, by matching with people through their horoscopes, they are able to achieve "the perfect life". However, this is entirely false and has been debunked by psychologists across the board. The Barnum Effect is essentially that people are gullible because they think the information is about them only when, in fact, the information is generic. This ultimately relates to horoscopes and personality tests by making people believe that the horoscope or personality they have is theirs alone and can't apply to anyone. It creates a rift between people who think they are superior or better than others when, in reality, everyone is human, and that's the basis of life.
You might wonder: Why would horoscopes and personality tests ever influence people? Well, people tend to accept positive statements about themselves, especially when these statements also include weaknesses offset by the positive attributes. So, the level of trust that people have in these tests increases, thus allowing them to believe in the bizarre phenomenon. This leads to people making negative assumptions about others and thinking the worst of a person due to their so-called personality test answer. This has led to cases of profiling by employers to not employ certain people, exclusion, and depression due to many feeling attacked personally for having a different MBTI than their peers or a different horoscope than their friends. These tests are not only inaccurate, but they also can't change, which can lead people to base their self-worth on a horoscope sign that doesn't accurately capture who they are as a person. Your horoscope is based on your birth date, and you can't control the day you came into the world.
Take horoscopes and personality tests with a grain of salt. Furthermore, when we use them to define people's character and make it into something that harms people, whether emotionally or physically, it becomes a source of pain and discomfort. We can't excuse our bad behavior and actions based on horoscopes or personality tests in order to alleviate the negative consequences. Our actions are what ultimately make us who we are, and no test or sign can change that. Choose to be better by not taking part in the vicious cycle of using these tests to form opinions or ideas that can ultimately be inaccurate and totally opposite of the truth.
