An empirical test of the astrological theory of personality

The present study investigated the accuracy of genethliacal horoscopes by asking each of the 15 Ss and a member of her family or a close friend—the nominee—to try to identify which one of 5 cast horoscopes pertained to the S, i.e. was based on her birth data. In addition, each S was rated on 5 personality dimensions by the astrologer who cast the horoscopes, the S herself and her nominee. Finally, the S completed the South African Personality Questionnaire which measured the dimensions psychometrically. Neither the Ss nor the nominees were able correctly to identify the S's horoscope. Regarding the 5 personality dimensions, it was found that the astrologer's ratings did not correlate with the psychometrically-obtained scores, the S's self-ratings or the ratings of the S by the nominee. There was, however, a reasonably high degree of consensus between the psychometrically-obtained scores, the self-ratings and the ratings of the nominees.