The Forer Effect

The Forer Effect

Read this profile. Does this apply to you? After reading this, rate how accurately this describes you on a scale of 1 to 5. 

You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others' statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.

The average personal accuracy rating for this is 4.2. Did you give a rating in that range?

The Forer Effect is the phenomenon when we believe that personality descriptions are highly personal to us, when really they could apply to a broad range of people. Essentially, when we hear statements that supposedly describe us, we believe them to be true because we want them to be true, and not because they actually are. We seek subjective validation, where we accept the statements that we like, and subconsciously ignore the rest. This can apply to all kinds of analyses, from personality type systems such as horoscopes and the Enneagram, to psychic predictions. 

I would like to expand upon this theory though. When we read personality profiles we believe apply to us, not only to we construct our minds to accept the description, but we also adapt our behavior to fit what we think we ought to be. 

Let's look at the sentence in the above paragraph, "You prefer a certain amount of change and variety." Perhaps that is true for some people, but there are many who do not greatly like change. Let's say you are one of these people. You see that many of the statements in the profile fit you, and therefore, they must all describe you. Though you don't like change, you start to think you should like change, which therefore forces you to create changes in your life more than you would do otherwise. This is a hypothetical example, but you get what I'm saying.

For this reason, I am wary of many personality typers, even the ones I enjoy using, such as the MBTI and the Enneagram. I find that the more I learn about these types, the more I feel I apply to all of them, and the more I change my own behavior to adapt to them. 

For example, my friends have been very interested in MBTI. Though I originally graded myself as an ENFP, they believe I am truly an ENTP. The difference between the two, simply put, is that ENFPs are concerned with making people feel good and being well-liked, while ENTPs enjoy logically debating people and don't particularly care how they make others feel. Because my friends tell me I have the ENTP attitude, I've noticed that lately I've been a bit more brash with people; teasing them and throwing them under the bus so I can make a good joke. I actually feel bad when I do this too much, Lately though, I've been trying to ignore this guilt because "I'm a T and that's who I am." That's probably not a healthy attitude. As usual, my thoughts and behavior are all a likely byproduct of overthinking, and soon I will be back to a more comfortable self. Perhaps that comfortable self is even an ENFP who cares enough about how others feel not to be mocking. But it's all arbitrary anyhow. That's why I confuse my friends and I confuse myself. 

Thus is the Forer effect and its additional side effects.