Thread: Astrology and Personality Tests

I am interested in comparing the results of personality tests with birth charts to see if there is any correlation. I have some questions.

Does anyone know of studies that have been done like this?
Does anyone have any preferred sites that provide sun, moon, rising signs and the houses?


Thanks for any input.

I just linked to one in that other zodiac thread....err...where is it...ah: Free Birth Chart

I don't know if you mean a complete list of all possible sun moon rising signs and houses or not, but I don't feel like searching for one anyway
I was once bored and was looking to be entertained and came across this website that provides some stuff when you enter your own information in it

ASTROLABE: #1 Free Astrology Birth Chart Online: Astrolabe's Free Astro Chart, Horoscope Data Input Page

Here is another I've used that provides you with your houses or whatever.

Free Birth Chart

so yeah. hope this helped you out a little.

Thanks Nina... Haven't used that one before. (I like to see what different sites have to say )


edit- its the same as the second link in my post. blah. lol

@AquanNina, Yeah, I don't think that one's going to do. It's almost perfect because it provides the details in a table that I could scrape and has a nice CGI interface but doesn't provide a list of the cities it covers. I think I'm going to have to write my own. I'm not really interested in interpretations: I just want to get a whole bunch of birth charts and personality test results and see if there is any correlation at all between particular features of birth charts and personality results.

FWIW, here's my chart: Interactive Horoscope & Astrology Information

It has some things that are right on, some things that are BS and contradicts itself in multiple places. I suppose I could write the contradictions off as opposing influences but it is a little suspicious.

@LifeStandsStill. Same problem but also a nice site. Thanks anyways to both of you.

If you have a link to a good personality test I'd be happy to take it and post it along with my birth chart.

This thread is a really good idea btw.

Originally Posted by PhilosopherStoned

Does anyone know of studies that have been done like this?

I found a few in a quick search.

Here's the only one I found that was accessible without going through a pay wall:
link

Here's citations/abstracts for a couple more:

Spoiler for 1:

Thu Jan 20 21:45:52 EST 2011
CSA

Record 1 of 1

DN: Database Name
PsycINFO
TI: Title
Astrological signs as determinants of extroversion and emotionality:
An empirical study.
AU: Author
Clarke, Dave (1); Gabriels, Toos; Barnes, Joan
SO: Source
Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied. Vol 130(2), Mar
1996, pp. 131-140
DE: Descriptors
Astrology*; Birth*; Emotional Responses*; Extraversion*;
Introversion*; Human Sex Differences
AB: Abstract
Explored the effect of positions of the sun, moon, and planets in the
zodiac at the moment of birth on predominance of introversion or
extraversion and on emotionality in 136 female and 54 male university
students. The dominance effect of the sun on men and the moon on women
was also studied. Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) scores on
extraversion and emotionality were obtained, and date, time, and
location of birth were requested to establish the positions of the
sun, moon, and ascendant in positive, negative, and water signs for
each S. Multiple <i>t</i> tests showed a significantly greater mean
extraversion score for the group with both the sun and the moon in
positive signs than for the group with both in negative signs. No
other differences in means were significant. Findings generally do not
support theories claiming that tendencies toward extraversion and
emotionality are determined by astrological signs. (PsycINFO Database
Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)

Spoiler for 2:

Thu Jan 20 21:54:34 EST 2011
CSA

Record 1 of 1

DN: Database Name
PsycINFO
TI: Title
Astrological Signs and Personality in Kuwaitis and Americans.
AU: Author
Abdel-Khalek, Ahmed (1); Lester, David (2)
SO: Source
Psychological Reports. Vol 98(2), Apr 2006, pp. 602-607
DE: Descriptors
Astrology*; Cross Cultural Differences*; Personality*; Anxiety; Death
Anxiety; Ego; Grasping; Pessimism; Suicidal Ideation
AB: Abstract
Samples of Kuwaiti (N = 460) and American (N = 273) undergraduates
responded to six personality questionnaires to assess optimism,
pessimism, suicidal ideation, ego-grasping, death anxiety, general
anxiety, and obssessive-compulsiveness. Each participant was assigned
to the astrological sign associated with date of birth. One-way
analyses of variance yielded nonsignificant F ratios for all the seven
scales in both Kuwaiti and American samples, except for anxiety scores
among Americans. It was concluded that there was little support for an
association between astrological sun signs and scores on the present
personality scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights
reserved) (journal abstract)
DO: DOI
10.2466/PR0.98.2.602-607

This one is a little different from the above but it's arguably the most interesting one:

Spoiler for 3:

Thu Jan 20 21:50:52 EST 2011
CSA

Record 1 of 1

DN: Database Name
PsycINFO
TI: Title
Science versus the stars: A double-blind test of the validity of the
NEO Five-Factor Inventory and computer-generated astrological natal
charts.
AU: Author
Wyman, Alyssa Jayne (1); Vyse, Stuart (1)
SO: Source
Journal of General Psychology. Vol 135(3), Jul 2008, pp. 287-300
DE: Descriptors
Astrology*; Five Factor Personality Model*; Inventories*; Personality
Traits*; Test Validity*; Computers; Psychometrics
AB: Abstract
The authors asked 52 college students (38 women, 14 men,
<i>M</i> age = 19.3 years, <i>SD</i> = 1.3
years) to identify their personality summaries by using a
computer-generated astrological natal chart when presented with 1 true
summary and 1 bogus one. Similarly, the authors asked participants to
identify their true personality profile from real and bogus summaries
that the authors derived from the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI;
P. T Costa Jr. & R. R. McCrae, 1985). Participants identified
their real NEO-FFI profiles at a greater-than-chance level but were
unable to identify their real astrological summaries. The authors
observed a P. T Barnum effect in the accuracy ratings of both
psychological and astrological measures but did not find differences
between the odd-numbered (i.e., favorable) signs and the even-numbered
(i.e., unfavorable) signs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all
rights reserved) (journal abstract)
DO: DOI
10.3200/GENP.135.3.287-300

But I still agree that this could be a fun project.

Addendum:
Here's a link to a scientifically validated personality test based on the five-factor model which is predominant in the study of personality:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/j5j/IPIP/ipipneo300.htm
As you can see, there is a long version (300 items, 30-40 minutes) and a short version (120 items, 10-20 minutes). The short version necessarily is slightly less statistically reliable than the long version, but should still be adequate, and it has the advantage that fewer users will find it prohibitively long. I haven't taken a look at the format the results take so it's not clear how easy it will be to compile the data into a spreadsheet.

I'd be willing to lend a hand with data analysis if/when the time comes. I am qualified for the task.

Originally Posted by DuB

I'd be willing to lend a hand with data analysis if/when the time comes. I am qualified for the task.

If you are still willing to lend a hand, let's get in touch with each other. (I'm not the OP. I just came across this post via a Google search. I joined the forum just to reach out to you.)

Originally Posted by DQP

If you are still willing to lend a hand, let's get in touch with each other. (I'm not the OP. I just came across this post via a Google search. I joined the forum just to reach out to you.)

Sorry, too busy these days. Good luck.

I doubt there would be a correlation

An obvious problem with this test is most of us already know something about astrology, which will change our perceptions of ourselves and bias our test results.

If a person was going to try to 'prove' something along similar lines, one approach would be to look at biorhythms. There its relatively easy to do a blind test because interactions with other people depend on both people's birthdays, which don't have to be known by both people. I looked at this a long time ago for about 15 people I knew and got statistically strong results, but it might not hold up for people in general. The same thing could be done with astrology, having one person make predictions about someone else's birthday based on their behavior, but astrology is a lot more complicated.

Anyone who has a research or statistical background and is interested in formal research on this topic, please let me know. I have some experience with both formal research and statistical analysis and it would be great to connect with someone who has similar training and an interest in this topic.

Originally Posted by shadowofwind

An obvious problem with this test is most of us already know something about astrology, which will change our perceptions of ourselves and bias our test results.

If a person was going to try to 'prove' something along similar lines, one approach would be to look at biorhythms. There its relatively easy to do a blind test because interactions with other people depend on both people's birthdays, which don't have to be known by both people. I looked at this a long time ago for about 15 people I knew and got statistically strong results, but it might not hold up for people in general. The same thing could be done with astrology, having one person make predictions about someone else's birthday based on their behavior, but astrology is a lot more complicated.

This has been tried unsuccessfully, but I believe if one thinks that astrology's validity would be based on your ability to guess their birthday based on their personality, they have an erroneous view of what astrology is.

Originally Posted by Original Poster

This has been tried unsuccessfully, but I believe if one thinks that astrology's validity would be based on your ability to guess their birthday based on their personality, they have an erroneous view of what astrology is.

You should work on your reading comprehension.

Originally Posted by shadowofwind

An obvious problem with this test is most of us already know something about astrology, which will change our perceptions of ourselves and bias our test results.

If a person was going to try to 'prove' something along similar lines, one approach would be to look at biorhythms. There its relatively easy to do a blind test because interactions with other people depend on both people's birthdays, which don't have to be known by both people. I looked at this a long time ago for about 15 people I knew and got statistically strong results, but it might not hold up for people in general. The same thing could be done with astrology, having one person make predictions about someone else's birthday based on their behavior, but astrology is a lot more complicated.

Astrology is never mastered. Computer generated results are basically meaningless. And focusing on just the Sun never works.

I have a math and physics background (no PhD), and work in metrology R&D. I have successfully pursued DoD related research grants in the past so I have some idea how the funding/publishing world works.

I'm half interested in proving some kind of paranormal phenomena, I don't even care what. The point would just be to show that the existing physics model is far from complete. Whether the would be good or bad or pointless I don't know. To that ends a drawback of astrology is there are already known mechanisms that can seasonally affect personality during fetal development. So it wouldn't be clear what one would be proving. Biorhythms is different in that it seems to make less sense from a scientific standpoint, since there doesn't seem to be any way for people's cycles to stay aligned to an apparently arbitrary calendar for a lifetime without drifting. Telepathy or precognition would be better for a lot of reasons, but I'm not sure this can be controlled well enough to show anything decisively.

Originally Posted by shadowofwind

I have a math and physics background (no PhD), and work in metrology R&D. I have successfully pursued DoD related research grants in the past so I have some idea how the funding/publishing world works.

Nice skill set! Let's get in touch. You can PM me or I'll PM you and we can trade email addresses. I can already envision us assembling quite a nice team. I imagine that your work in metrology R&D focuses on physical measurements, but the concepts of traceability, accuracy, precision, systematic bias, and evaluation of measurement uncertainty would all be extremely useful in scientific astrology research. One big challenge is obtaining accurate birth data. Another big challenge is perfecting the astrology algorithms. All the commercial astro software I looked at a few years ago had at least some errors in computations. I have a lot of ideas we can discuss. This is something I've been thinking about for a long time. I'm excited to see if we can get it going.