Why do people fall for the advice of astrologers, fortune tellers etc.? Is astrology actually true or people are inclined towards believing it? It's an observation that every individual relates these predictions to exclusively himself when they are actually vague and very general, applicable to most of the people. This is known as the `Barnum Effect'. Barnum statements are usually favorable and true for a larger group of people in the society. There's no definite explanation as to why Barnum effect happens. It's univeral, unaffected by age, gender etc. The aim of this study is to expose the greater acceptance of Barnum effect among the students in our institute. Also since these Barnum statements are usually favorable and applicable to a large number of people in the society, this project also studies the effect of social desirability, base rate and personalization on this phenomenon.
Proposal