A Study on the Validity of Western

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A Study on the Validity of Western, Eastern, and Vedic Astrology in the Determination of Personality Alicia Wong Sue Yee PS080724692 International Medical University

Abstract Objectives. To examine validity of Western, Chinese and Vedic astrology in determining an individual‟s personality.

Design. A self-report by participant and identifying of applicable traits in the horoscope with the highest number of traits that were descriptive of participant. Participants. One Chinese girl aged 18 from International Medical University, studying Psychology. Results. Participant reported 62.5% of the total traits in the horoscope applied to her, 48.48% were reported to apply by the assistant, and 45.45% were congruent. Conclusions. Chinese horoscope shows the highest validity among other horoscopes in the establishment of personality but there is no substantial evidence that there is validity in the determination of personality by horoscope.

A Study on the Validity of Western, Eastern and Vedic Astrology In the Determination of Personality Astrology, in the words of Lanyon and Goodstein (1997), is the attempt to predict events in the word by means of observing static stars and other matters in heaven. There are different traditions within astrology itself; some of which are Babylonian astrology, Hellenistic astrology, Egyptian astrology, Hindu, Western and Chinese (Wikipedia, Astrology, 2009). Horoscopes, on the other hand, are charts that represent the Sun‟s, Moon‟s, planets‟ positions as well as those of other astrology-related aspects and angles at the time of an event (Wikipedia, Horoscope, 2009). More often that not, the term „horoscope‟ speaks of an astrologer‟s reading through either the Sun sign astrology system, calendar significance or

Moon positions. There are different horoscopes in different cultures; three of them which are horoscope in Western astrology, Chinese astrology and Vedic astrology. Western astrology has twelve signs in their horoscope; Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Saggitarius and Capricorn. It is believed that astrology had it roots 25 centuries back during Mesopotamia. The people then were convinced that stars were gods and the study of the heavens would reveal human affairs. Astrology majorly stemmed from the work of Claudius Ptolemy, an astrologer, who wrote Tetrabiblos which meant Four Books on the Influence of the Stars (Rudhyar, 1936). Hellenistic astrology took over from there and was definitively took over by Babylonian astrology (Wikipedia, Western astrology, 2009). Chinese astrology, however, has different roots, and is based on 12 conventional personalities that are epitomized by one of 12 animal signs. These 12 animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. In addition to that, each animal has their own element; wood, fire, earth, metal and water both in Yin and Yang forms. These signs and their elements are dependent on the positioning of the major planets along the placings of the Sun, Moon and comets as well as their birth time and Zodiac Sign (Wikipedia, Chinese astrology, 2009). An astronomy-based system, Chinese astrology uses fixed mathematical formulas but is unlike the Western astrology as it is an art of interpretation rather than that of predicting events (Wu, 2005). Wu (2005) further added that it is based on the “foundations of principle, order, and the spiritual laws of synchronicity (or the theory of meaningful coincidences)” (Wu, 2005, p. 11). It is us that decides characteristics and determine purpose for existing; one‟s spirit‟s intent is manifested in their character. There are two parts that completes one‟s personality; xian tian (the original temperament) and the other being hou tian (acquired character) that is a result of choice and behaviour. These two form personality, which is relatively enduring over time.

Vedic astrology is split into three branches which are Siddhanta – the traditional Indian astronomy, Samhita – for prediction of important incidents, and Hora – prediction by analysis of birth horoscopes and in event of queries (Wikipedia, Indian astrology, 2009). Vedic astrology is rooted in the belief of bandhu of the Vedic scriptures. There are four different elements in Vedic astrology; Rāshi – the signs (zodiac), Bhāva – the houses, Graha – the planets and Nakshatra – the lunar mansions (Wikipedia, Indian astrology, 2009). This form of astrology, as per the other two aforementioned have twelve signs or rāshi. It uses the same names as the Western horoscope but has translated the names to Sanskrit. Studies in scientific evidence for astrology are limited (Culver & Ianna, 1984; Eysenck & Nias, 1982; Groome, 2001, as cited in Rogers & Soule, 2009) but yet, thousands countinue their practices in horoscopes (Roe, 1998, as cited in Rogers & Soule, 2009). Its ostensible validity seems to come from a tendency to accept ambigous and indiscriminate descriptions of personality as true (Forer, 1949, as cited in Rogers & Soule, 2009). This tendency is called “the Barnum effect” (Meehl, 1956, as cited in Rogers & Soule, 2009). Rogers and Soule (2009) further added that it has been demonstrated in clinical, occupational, educational, forensic as well as military settings and occurs regardless of age, sex or job. One study tested the theory that astrology had a play in personality. It examined the accuracy of horoscopes by obtaining personality dimensions from an astrologer, administering personality tests the participants and getting personality rankings of the participants from their family member or close friend (Tyson, 1984). Although neither of the participants and their family members or close friends could recognize which horoscope the participants were, the astrologer‟s rating of the participants‟ personalities did not have any correlation with the personality test scores of the participants and the scores of their family members or close friends (Tyson, 1984).

This paper intends to examine the validity of Western, Chinese and Vedic astrology in determining an individual‟s personality. It is hypothesized that there is no substantial validity in each of these forms of astrology in the determination of personality.. Methodology Participants In this study, only the researcher; hereby referred to as the participant; and one assistant was involved. There was neither random sampling nor random assignment done. The assistant was a 24-year-old man, A.L., who seemed to have a profound understanding of the world and was more observant compared to an average person. This person was selected to assist in the study as he fulfilled the requirements of knowing the researcher well. As mentioned, this individual did not participate in this particular study. Materials The materials needed were the three different websites describing horoscopes of three types; Western horoscopes, Chinese animal zodiacs and Vedic horoscope. Each website was assigned by the lecturer in charge so as to have streamlined and standard sources. For the Western horoscope, the horoscope was obtained from Starwoman (2009). The Chinese horoscope was sourced from iVillage.com (2009) while the Vedic horoscope was from Indian Astrology for the young society (2009). Each of these websites were selected because they were one of the most popular websites that appeared when searched, and did not charge any fee for horoscope profiles. Procedure Using a computer, an Internet browser was opened and navigated to the Western horoscope webpage where the zodiac sign that applied to the participant was selected. The browser was then redirected to a webpage that explained about the participant‟s horoscope

characteristics. The text was then copied and pasted into a blank Microsoft Word 2007 document (see Appendix I). The browser was then directed to another page which was about Chinese animal zodiac profiles (see Appendix III) by iVillage.com (2009). In this page, the birthdate of the participant was selected and she was then redirected to a webpage that described the personality of the corresponding animal zodiac. The webpage was then selected and copied into the same Microsoft Word 2007 document. Next, the participant entered the address for an Indian astrology site which was provided by the Indian Astrology for the young society (2009). The participant signed up for an account and looked for Rashi characteristics on the panel on the left. She then clicked on it, selected the appropriate text and pasted it into the aforementioned Microsoft Word document (see Appendix IV). The document was read and the traits that applied to her were highlighted in the word document itself. Those traits and the traits that were available in the word document were highlighted with yellow and italicised respectively. Each trait that applied to her as well as those included in the text were counted and the percentage calculated. The horoscope that had the highest percentage of traits being true was printed out without the highlight marks. A copy of the document, which only included the horoscope which had the highest percentage, was given to A.L. who highlighted the traits and characteristics of the participant using a red pen. He later returned the copy (see Appendix II). The amount of traits or characteristics that A.L. had highlighted was counted. This number was then divided by the sum of all traits that were included in the webpage so as to get a percentage. The two percentages were compared. Each percentage was derived from the horoscopes that were highlighted by both the participant and the assistant respectively. The

percentages were counted based on the number of traits that were manifested in the participant divided by the sum of all the traits within the horoscope profile. Results The horoscopes that were found to apply to the participant were for the Western horoscope, the Capricorn; Chinese animal zodiac, the Horse; and for the Vedic horoscope, the Kumbh or Aquarius. The horoscope with the highest amount of traits that described the participant; the Chinese animal zodiac in which she was a Horse – had a score of 20. On the assistant‟s side, he found 16 traits within the text that had described the participant. Overall, there are 32 traits in total in the Chinese animal zodiac profile. While the participant found 62.50% of the total traits that applied to her, the assistant found that only 48.48% of all traits did. There were also 15 traits that were highlighted by both the participant and the assistant, bringing the percentage to about 45.45% of all the traits. Discussion This study on the validity of horoscopes in the determination of personality documents a lower than average validity than expected. The participant had only found slightly more than half of the traits in the text that were part of her personality but the assistant found less than half of the traits performed the same function. Among both these highlighted traits, there was a congruence of 15 traits in total, but it was still less than half of the total traits. One of the major strengths of this study was the materials. They were not only available, they came at no cost and were very popular, evident by their positions on the first page of the search results in using Google search engine. It was effortless to browse through

their webpages to find the horoscope profiles. Furthermore, they did not disable copy and pasting the profiles which was very useful when there was a need to print them out. Among the study‟s major limitations is the sample size. There is only one person who is involved in this study and this is the researcher herself. Therefore, the results of this study is not generalizable to the rest of the population because the sample is too small. It would be an improvement if the sample size was much bigger than the one in this study. Secondly, there is potential for the study to be biased. As the participant in this study is the researcher herself, the data can be easily manipulated in order to falsify the results and thus, she is able to provide “evidence” for the validity of the horoscopes although there is none. This could be overcome by not allowing the researcher to participate in the study and to sample elements from other locations and a diverse group of people, rather than taking only one participant for ease of convenience. Thirdly, the materials, although available for free and may have a degree of credibility due to its popularity, are problematic. They are not extensive, does not cover all facets of an individual‟s personality, and the traits in them are rather vague. For instance, in the Chinese horoscope (iVillage.com, 2009), it was stated that “these colts would rather take a situation firmly in hand as opposed to waiting for others to weigh in or come to terms with it”. Looking at this sentence, there may either be two traits in the sentence or one. Hence, the materials are shallow, superficial and are vague in describing traits. Conclusion This study suggests that there is not any substantial validity in the personality determination by horoscopes. Less than 50% of the traits that were thought to be descriptive of the participant and the assistant were congruent. Also, the Barnum effect of accepting vague descriptions of self such as in the horoscope may also come into play. This study has available materials but they are superficial and do not have clear-cut trait descriptions. The

sample size is also too small. This study could be improved if the materials were more extensive and detailed, and the sample size was increased to include diverse groups.

References Indian Astrology for the young society. (2009, April 10). Rashi Character - Aquarius Kumbh. Retrieved April 13, 2009, from Indian Astrology Horoscope Chart Prediction: http://www.astrogyan.com/rashi_character/rID11/rashi_character_kumbha_aquarius_sign_astrology.html iVillage.com. (2009, March 21). Chinese Astrology, Chinese Signs, Feng Shui, I Ching and more! Retrieved March 21, 2009, from iVillage.com: Health, Beauty, Pregnancy, Entertainment and More: http://chinese.astrology.com/horse.aspx Lanyon, R. I., & Goodstein, L. D. (1997). Personality Assessment (3 ed.). Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Rogers, P., & Soule, J. (2009). Cross Cultural Differences in the Acceptance of Barnum Profiles. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology , 40 (3), 381-399. Rudhyar, D. (1936). The Astrology of Personality. United State of America: Lucis Publishing Co. Starwoman, A. (2009). 12 Signs of the Zodiac- Star Sign Explained : Capricorn. Retrieved April 16, 2009, from Accurate Psychic Readings by Live Psychics, Online Psychic Advice & Astrology: http://www.psychicguild.com/horoscopes_zodiac.php?sign=Capricorn Tyson, G. A. (1984). An empirical test of the astrological theory of personality. Personality and Individual Differences , 5 (2), 247-250. Wikipedia. (2009, April 24). Astrology. Retrieved April 25, 2009, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology

Wikipedia. (2009, April 22). Chinese astrology. Retrieved April 25, 2009, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_astrology Wikipedia. (2009, April 16). Horoscope. Retrieved April 25, 2009, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horoscope Wikipedia. (2009, April 19). Indian astrology. Retrieved April 25, 2009, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_astrology Wikipedia. (2009, April 23). Western astrology. Retrieved April 25, 2009, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_astrology Wu, S. (2005). Chinese Astrology: Exploring the Eastern Zodiac. United States of America: The Career Press, Inc.

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