Myth
„Your Sun sign determines your personality.”
In the astrological tradition the Sun sign is an important but only one layer of identity; the rest of the chart (Moon, Ascendant, planets, houses) counts just as much, so “Sun sign only” is already a simplification within the tradition itself. On the research side, even large samples have found no meaningful link between birth month and measured personality traits or intelligence. The feeling of “yes, that is me” that almost always appears is largely explained by the Barnum effect. A Sun sign description is therefore at most a playful prompt, not a measurable personality profile.
Hartmann, P., Reuter, M., Nyborg, H. (2006). The relationship between date of birth and individual differences in personality and general intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1349–1362 · Forer, B. R. (1949). The fallacy of personal validation. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 44, 118–123
Myth
„Mercury retrograde ruins technology and agreements.”
In astrology retrograde Mercury is a period for “reviewing” communication, travel and contracts, and the tradition does interpret it that way; the popular version, however, turned it into “all kinds of bad luck”. Mercury's apparent backward motion is an optical effect that happens about three or four times a year and has a negligible physical influence on Earth. There is no controlled evidence that technical faults or misunderstandings are more frequent during it. If we do notice more mishaps then, it is often confirmation bias: we remember the glitches better because we have an “explanation”.
Wikipedia: Apparent retrograde motion
Myth
„There are more accidents, births and strange behaviour at full moon.”
Folk belief has linked the full moon to mental disturbance (“lunatic”), births and accidents for centuries, and many nurses, police officers and midwives sincerely remember it that way. Large reviews (for example Rotton and Kelly's 1985 meta-analysis), however, found no reliable relationship between lunar phase and accident, crime, psychiatric or birth statistics. The “full-moon experience” largely stems from selective memory: we remember the busy full-moon night and not the others. For sleep there are smaller, disputed results, which have not been consistently confirmed either.
Rotton, J., Kelly, I. W. (1985). Much ado about the full moon: A meta-analysis of lunar-lunacy research. Psychological Bulletin, 97, 286–306 · Wikipedia: Lunar effect
Unproven
„A horoscope tells you the future in advance.”
Classical astrology did include prediction (transits, periods, the annual chart), and many practitioners today use these as a “weather report” rather than a fixed outcome. In studies where astrologers had to match charts to biographies blind or predict events, the hit rate did not exceed chance. Newspaper horoscopes, daily or monthly, moreover, rest on the Sun sign alone and are worded so generally that almost anything can be read into them. In short, there is no evidence of reliable predictive ability, although a symbolic role as a prompt for reflection can remain.
Carlson, S. (1985). A double-blind test of astrology. Nature, 318, 419–425 · Wikipedia: Astrology and science
Myth
„Astrologers explain the effect through the gravity of stars and planets.”
This is the most common criticism, but most branches of traditional astrology do not appeal to gravity or any other physical force. The classical view is rather the symbolic principle “as above, so below”: celestial cycles and earthly life mirror each other in meaning, not in a causal chain. That is why the gravity argument (“the obstetrician's gravity is greater than Mars's”) does not refute what the tradition actually claims. The question that remains is whether the symbolic correspondence has any checkable predictive value, and research has so far answered no.
Wikipedia: Astrology and science
Myth
„Astrology is ancient, so it must be true.”
Astrology really is thousands of years old, going back to the Babylonian and Hellenistic eras, and it is significant for cultural history and for how humans have understood themselves. Age alone is not evidence though: many ancient ideas (such as Earth as the centre of the universe or the four humours) were later abandoned. That an idea has lasted long and across many cultures shows it meant something to people, not that its claims about facts are correct. The value of a tradition and scientific validity are two separate questions.
Wikipedia: Appeal to tradition
Myth
„Only weak, naive people believe in astrology.”
Interest in astrology cannot be tied to any single social group, level of education or character: its followers include doctors, engineers, artists and scientists as well. Many use it not as a “belief” but as a tool for reflection, a cultural tradition or a talking point, while being well aware of the scientific debate. Behind the interest often lie a way of coping with uncertainty, a search for meaning or simple curiosity, which is human, not a weakness. Looking down on believers is as unfair as calling sceptics narrow-minded.
Partly true
„Science has proven that astrology is nonsense.”
A fair way to put it is that science has repeatedly tested the checkable claims of astrology (that a chart reliably predicts personality or events) and found no support for them. This is a strong, well-documented result, but it is not the same as “nonsense proven”, since science does not decide on the human worth of a symbolic language or of interpretation. Believers often say astrology is not a statistical method, while sceptics hold that a claim about reality can be investigated. The accurate picture: the predictive claims were not confirmed, while meaning-making, reflective use is a separate question.
Carlson, S. (1985). A double-blind test of astrology. Nature, 318, 419–425 · Wikipedia: Astrology and science
Myth
„Numerology is mathematically proven.”
The calculation steps of numerology (addition, digit sums, assigning letters to numbers) are indeed exact mathematical operations, which is why it can seem “mathematical”. The correctness of the operation does not prove the meaning, though: that a 7 is “the seeker” or a 4 “reliable” is a matter of tradition and convention, not a derived theorem. Moreover, letter-number assignments (Pythagorean, Chaldean and others) differ between systems, so the same name can yield different numbers. No controlled research has shown that these numbers predict anything.
Wikipedia: Numerology
Myth
„A type test shows a fixed type, a lifelong destiny.”
Type tests (MBTI, Enneagram, DISC and others) sort people into categories, which is vivid but simplifying: most personality traits are spread along a continuous scale, and for borderline cases a small change can give a different “type”. A considerable share of test-takers receive a different type code on retesting, partly through mood and life situation, partly through scale boundaries. Adult personality is relatively stable, but change is not excluded, especially after major life events. A type is therefore a good conversation starter and a language for self-reflection, not a verdict of “this is who you are”.
Wikipedia: Myers–Briggs Type Indicator
Myth
„An IQ test measures everything about intelligence.”
IQ tests capture a well-researched, reliably measurable part of cognitive abilities (logical, numerical, verbal and spatial reasoning), and the result does correlate with, for example, academic performance. They do not measure creativity, practical wisdom, emotional and social sensitivity, perseverance or moral judgement, which matter at least as much in life. A short online quiz, moreover, is not the same as a standardised test given by a trained professional. The cognitive quizzes on this site are therefore for orientation and fun, and do not give a “real IQ”.
Wikipedia: Intelligence quotient
Myth
„There are left-brained (logical) and right-brained (creative) people.”
The two hemispheres are indeed somewhat specialised (language functions, for example, are mostly organised on the left), which gave rise to the popular “left-brained, right-brained” personality theory. A large 2013 imaging study analysed the brain networks of over a thousand people and found no pattern showing that someone is consistently a “left” or “right” brain type. In everyday thinking the two hemispheres work together continuously, and both logical and creative tasks use both. The “type” is more of a metaphor than a neuroscientific fact.
Nielsen, J. A. et al. (2013). An evaluation of the left-brain vs. right-brain hypothesis with resting state functional connectivity MRI. PLoS ONE, 8(8), e71275
True
„The Big Five is the best-researched personality model.”
The Big Five (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) is the most widely accepted and most studied model in personality psychology today. It grew out of language analyses and questionnaire factor analysis, recurs across cultures, and its scores predict, to some extent, things like academic and workplace performance or health behaviour. That does not make it complete or perfect: the five traits are a compact summary, not an exhaustive description, and the result is shaped by the limits of self-report. Where a scientifically grounded self-reflection tool is wanted, it is nonetheless the best starting point.
Wikipedia: Big Five personality traits
Partly true
„Because of precession, everyone's sign is wrong.”
Precession is real: because of the slow wobble of Earth's axis the vernal equinox point travels around the sky in roughly 26,000 years, so today the tropical signs and the constellations of the same name no longer overlap. Tropical (Western) astrology, however, is deliberately tied to the seasons, that is, to the vernal equinox, not to the constellations, so there is no error within that system. The sidereal (Vedic) system is tied to the background stars, so there the signs differ by roughly 24 degrees. So it is not “wrong” but two frames of reference, and the question is which one we consider meaningful.
Wikipedia: Axial precession
Partly true
„There is a thirteenth sign, Ophiuchus, that was hidden from us.”
In an astronomical sense it is true that the Sun also passes through the constellation Ophiuchus, from about late November to mid-December. The astrological zodiac, however, is not based on constellations but divides the ecliptic into 12 equal 30-degree segments, so a “thirteenth sign” does not reveal an error but a difference between systems. The boundaries of the constellations are uneven, and they were fixed only in 1930 by the International Astronomical Union. Nothing was “hidden”: the 12-fold division of Babylonian origin is a deliberate, arithmetical choice.
Wikipedia: Ophiuchus
Myth
„People born at the same time and place live the same life.”
The classic argument says that if a chart determined fate, children born at the same time in the same maternity ward would live similar lives, and experience shows otherwise. Astrologers answer that the same chart can unfold in many ways depending on family, decisions and circumstances, and that a chart describes inclinations, not a script. Researchers, however, found no striking similarity in personality or life path even when studying such “time twins”. Genetic and environmental factors together explain differences between people far better.
Wikipedia: Astrology and science
Unproven
„The lunar phase affects our sleep.”
In 2013 a Swiss laboratory study found that at full moon people fell asleep more slowly and slept for a shorter time, even though the participants had no view of the sky. This result attracted attention, but it arose from a re-analysis of a smaller dataset not originally designed for the purpose, and later studies have given mixed results. Whether the effect is real and, if so, small and repeatable has not yet been settled. Until then it is fair to say the question is open, but there is no convincing support for a dramatic “moon effect”.
Cajochen, C. et al. (2013). Evidence that the lunar cycle influences human sleep. Current Biology, 23, 1485–1488
Unproven
„Sun signs tell you who is compatible with whom.”
Sun sign pairings (“Taurus and Cancer make a great couple”) are a favourite of popular astrology, but the classical tradition compares the whole charts of two people (synastry), not just their Sun signs. Studies comparing the durability of marriages or relationships with Sun signs have generally found no reliable link. Research suggests that relationship satisfaction is explained far more by values, communication, trust and conflict handling. Sun sign matching can be an entertaining conversation starter, but not a basis for decisions.
Wikipedia: Astrology and science
Partly true
„The description fits me exactly, so it must be true.”
The experience of “this fits me exactly” is real and important: people do recognise themselves in well-phrased descriptions. The trouble is that general statements true of many people trigger the same feeling, which is the Barnum or Forer effect. In Forer's 1949 experiment everyone got the same “individual” profile, and the average rating was 4.3 out of 5. The sense of fit can therefore indicate a genuine hit, but proves nothing by itself; it is worth looking for specific, checkable statements and asking others how they see you.
Forer, B. R. (1949). The fallacy of personal validation. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 44, 118–123 · Wikipedia: Barnum effect
Myth
„An introvert is shy and avoids company.”
In psychology, introversion means that a person tires more quickly from outside stimulation and social situations, and tends to recharge in solitude and quiet. Shyness, by contrast, is anxiety or fear connected to social contact, and occurs among extraverts too. An introvert can be an excellent speaker, leader or friend, who simply needs company in a different rhythm and amount. Introversion is one end of a trait dimension, neither a flaw nor a diagnosis.
Wikipedia: Extraversion and introversion