Schizotypy, self-referential thinking and the Barnum effect

The tendency for people to endorse, as an accurate description of themselves, personality descriptions that are essentially bogus is well-attested. The study tested whether the so-called 'Barnum' effect could be predicted by individual differences in self-referential thinking, and beyond this, schizotypy more generally.

130 Participants completed four different measures of the Barnum effect followed by measures of schizotypy and self-referential thinking.

Both self-referential thinking and positive schizotypy independently predicted the degree of agreement with several Barnum measures including both favorable and unfavorable personality descriptions, as well as computer-generated and horoscope-based readings.

The sample is heavily represented by students and is not representative of the general population. Testing at a single point in time may have reduced differences between different indices of the Barnum effect.

Self-referential thinking and schizotypy more generally are key contributors to the Barnum effect across a wide range of indices.