The Barnum Effect - Essay Example

113840 "The Barnum effect is the given to a type of ive validation in which a person finds personal meaning in ments that could apply to many people," http://skepdic.com/barnum.html It is an unalterable desire to be praised, flattered and the belief that the individual is capable of greater deeds, which leads into our believing the general and vague prophecies of even the manipulating source. Feror called this souse as Subjective validation that has a certain unlimited power over the psyche of even the strangers, mainly due to guess work and clever manoeuvring. "Subjective validation is the process of validating words, initials, statements or signs as accurate because one is able to find them personally meaningful and significant" http://skepdic.com/subjectivevalidation.html Described by Psychologist Paul Meehle, but named after P.T. Barnum, that one of the greatest showmen, who used it in his 'psychic demonstrations' to guess about the volunteers and made it immensely popular, Barnum effect is a universal factor. The way professional manipulators of any subject give a mysteriously hidden message that makes the reader immediately feel that there is a certain hidden message meant only for him. The person also feels that the writer, who has written knows everything about the reader and this psychological state is called Cold Reading. This is not limited to mere manoeuvring and flattery and goes beyond it with an inherent potential for hypnotising and hidden nuances, and deep psychological manipulations. "In the course of a successful reading, the psychic may provide most of the words, but it is the client that provides most of the meaning and all of the significance," (Rowland (2000: 60, taken from http://skepdic.com/coldread.html) The phenomenon is named after P.T. Barnum who said that 'a good circus has a little something for everybody' and "There is a sucker born every minute" mainly because his shows thrived on the gullibility of people, ordinary and uncommon both. This concept plays on the innocence of the people who think that they are unique and others could see it. This gives way to personality tests and inventories, usually ending up in a stunningly personalised Barnum effect. Psychologist Bertram Forer too studied this effect and sometimes it is referred as Forer Effect. Sometimes these writing are absolutely far fetched; but in a way, they could sound real and within reach. Sometimes in believers, this could provide a mental stimulation and motivation and make them undertake immense tasks that had been hitherto avoided. Hence, a good manipulator, mainly due to his capability of knowing the minds of the gullible readers, has the unique power of making a stranger feel that an unknown power is shaping his life. The clever manipulator also gives the impression that he could understand that power with his uncanny ability. The selectivity continuously working in the human mind picks up whatever is necessary and important according to its sifting system. And all cold reading need not be malicious or manipulative. There are well-intentioned, persuasive cold readings too. Manipulative psychics do plenty of 'fishing' with their objects of interest. Actually the generalities are so cleverly handled that they could be taken as peculiarities with potential to be personalised. Usually the fact that the particular personalisation could be done en mass is always ignored by the affected individual. Barnum effect is a kind of wishful thinking that could have a universal application, but could be applied to any body individualistically. It is like reading an astrological prophesy, which sounds absolutely all right for anybody, because they pick up the universally applicable sentences that have a common standing in anybody's life. These vague claims, confusing, but pacifying kind of fortune telling, creation of almost identical images in mind that could be suitable for any one, who is living under the same social and economical or emotional paradigm, makes the astrology to flourish for the simple reason that people accept it as their own, knowing fully well that the same could apply to a larger chunk of the society in the same way. Even when the person has written wrongly because of the human selective thinking, it is usually disregarded and only the pacifying bit is picked up. Wild guessing with a bit of psychological know-how would form a major part of it. Astrological predictions, fortune telling, horoscopes, palm reading, crystal ball gazing all come under Barnum effect because psychologically it is the same part of the brain that get effected in a particularly similar way. It is not a matter of mere gullibility, but also a fervent desire to hear the best about themselves and it need not be a sign of stupidity. It is plies on the human aspirations that usually tend to be unrealistic. It depends on a person's personality, and the feedback the personality would like to receive. "Occurs when clients are provided assessment results that are superficial and overly general. Because such interpretations might apply to almost everyone, the uncritical client may believe almost anything that they are told about themselves. Examples include the typical horoscope readings found in newspapers," (O'Dell, 1972 taken from http://www.vocationalpsychology.com/term_barnum.htm Various experiments have shown a similar effect on people regardless of race, ethnicity, creed, nationality and age. The psychological factors governing the Barnum effect are the same in principle everywhere. Environmental influence has nothing much to do with it and studies have shown that an entirely atheist outlook is proof against such an effect. It also shows how psychologically similar we are, most of the time. "It appears that the self-serving bias is powerful enough to cancel the usual Barnum effect, in which subjects typically show marked gullibility for statements about themselves," http://www.looksmartrelationships.com/p/articles/mi_qa3852/is_200201/ai_n9028989 There are a few factors that would always effect the Barnum effect. They are gender, age, gullibility of the person, very low self-esteen, anxiety and uncertainty, a desire to cling on to something solid, belief in paranormal, need for approval. Another important factor is the desire to submit self to the external, generous control of the unknown entity and such compulsions lead to the desire to commit self to vague and ambiguous messages of uncertain origin. BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Bryan, G.S. (1927), Struggles and Truimphs, the life of P.T. Barnum, London: Knopf. 2. Wallace, I. (1959), The Fabulous Showman, New York: Alfred-A-Knopf. ONLINE SOURCES: 1. http://skepdic.com/subjectivevalidation.html (accessed on 26.2.2006) 2. http://skepdic.com/barnum.html accessed on 26.2.2006. 3. http://skepdic.com/coldread.html accessed on 26.2.2006. 4. http://www.vocationalpsychology.com/term_barnum.htm accessed on 27.2.2006. 5. http://www.looksmartrelationships.com/p/articles/mi_qa3852/is_200201/ai_n9028989 (accessed on 27.2.2006). Read More