Behavioral psychologist Chantal van der Leest examines our behavior in the workplace: who or what determines our daily decisions? Today: The Barnum Effect
What kind of people read my column? This question had been on my mind for some time, so I did a little research with a personality test. Hundreds of people participated, thank you for that. Good news: the results are in! Read along and check with yourself whether I have gotten to know you, my reader, a little.
You want others to like and admire you, but you are also critical of yourself. You can often compensate for your bad sides, but you also have qualities that you do not yet use well. You like some variety and don’t like being imposed by rules and restrictions. You pride yourself on being an independent thinker; you don’t just take something from others.
And? Is it a bit right? I hope so! For my research I was inspired by American psychologist Bertram Forer in 1948. He subjected his students to a personality test and a week later they received their own unique result.
Well, secretly not so unique at all. They all got the same text similar to what I wrote above about ‘my reader’. In reality, it is not a result of their test at all. It is a summary of generalities that actually apply to everyone. I didn’t do a test either, I wanted to know if you are also sensitive to the Barnum effect (or Forer effect). According to this Barnum effect, we all feel that general statements apply to us, especially if they are slightly positive.
Year-end lists and unique recommendations
So it’s no wonder that people en masse believe in horoscopes or are overjoyed with the ‘unique’ recommendations and year-end lists that streaming services such as Spotify or Netflix are coughing up. Innocent entertainment, but it gets a little less funny when you consider that some commercial personality tests rely quite heavily on this Barnum effect. And that they are widely used in management and HR.
It has to be said: personality tests can promote collaboration in teams, research shows. But they are far too general and black and white to predict who is the most suitable candidate for a position. Yet these tests remain as popular as ever and people even list their ‘unique’ code on their dating profile. No wonder: however you complete these tests, the results are always flattering. Who wouldn’t want to believe that?
Would you like to know more about psychology and work? Read Chantal’s books Why perfectionists are rarely happy, 13 tips against perfectionism (2021) and Our fallible thinking at work (2018).
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