Astrology, an attractive belief for narcissists?

Belief in astrology is on the rise around the world, and the personality trait most often associated with those who adhere to it is … narcissism, according to a small Swedish study that is making waves. Explanations.

Nicolas Berube
Press

Rising astrology

Belief in astrology, the study of the influence that the stars are supposed to exert on human behavior and earthly events, has been on the rise in recent years, especially among young people. So much so that we can speak of a “return” of this pseudoscience whose practitioners have failed independent tests for decades to demonstrate its validity. How to explain this increase? “When societies or individuals are under stress or threat, people are more likely to turn to astrology and other unsubstantiated epistemic beliefs,” note the authors of a new study titled Even the Stars Think That I Am Superior – Personality, Intelligence and Belief in Astrology (Even the Stars Think I’m Superior – Personality, Intelligence, and Belief in Astrology, in French), published in the most recent issue of the scientific journal Personality and Individual Differences. The authors cite the stress of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic as possible catalysts.

Personality traits

To learn more about the personalities of people who believe in astrology, researcher Ida Andersson, of Lund University, Sweden, and her colleagues gave 264 people a personality test in an anonymous survey, in more than questioning them about their attitude towards astrology. Researchers were surprised to find that narcissism was the strongest predictor among people who believed astrology had scientific foundations, while personality traits like openness, self-awareness, and neuroticism didn’t showed no effect. They were also able to establish a negative relationship between belief in astrology and the intelligence of those surveyed. In an interview, M^me Andersson notes that he was surprised to see narcissism at the top of the list. “We expected to find a link, but not for it to be the strongest predictor of personality traits,” she says.

Phenomenon Co-Star

Proof of the return of astrology: the astrology app Co-Star, launched four years ago, has been downloaded more than 20 million times, and now reaches a quarter of American women between the ages of 18 and 25. M^me Andersson notes that the “hyper-personalized” application with a minimalist design notably encourages users to think and concentrate on themselves. “So it’s possible that she attracts people with more narcissistic traits, who need to feel special and important (‘tell me more about myself”) and that she reinforces this need by constantly encouraging them to think. to themselves, ”she said. M^me Andersson stresses, however, that the results of his study cannot be generalized to the general population. “We are not claiming that all people practicing astrology are more narcissistic (or have lower IQs) because we can only talk about our sample … More research should be done, with larger and more diverse samples. . ”

Risky Business

Giving importance to what your horoscope announces may seem benign, but the authors believe that other behaviors may be related to it. “Although astrology may seem innocent, it is nonetheless possible that it facilitates non-critical thinking and promotes prejudice. Additionally, belief in astrology correlates with belief in many other pseudosciences as well as conspiracy theories, indicating that it may not be that harmless, ”they note. The conclusions of the study caused a stir on the Internet, especially on the popular Reddit site, where many users did not like to be described as narcissists … According to Ida Andersson, this is part of the risks of the job. “Our intention is obviously not to offend anyone, we just report our results. Having said that, we are not so naive that we do not understand that some people might be offended… There will always be someone offended, ”she said.