Here’s the one test that matters: take any statement in the text and ask yourself whether it could turn out to be wrong. If a statement can’t be disproved even in principle, it will fit anyone, and the fact that you recognized yourself in it means nothing. Below are six signs of that kind of text and six signs of a text written about one person.

Two experiments worth knowing about

In 1948, the psychologist Bertram Forer gave his students the same text, presenting it to each of them as an individual analysis of their personality. The average accuracy rating was 4.26 out of 5. The text was the same for everyone. His account of the experiment came out a year later, and the effect has carried his name ever since: the Forer effect, also known as the Barnum effect.

In 1968, the French researcher Michel Gauquelin placed an ad in a newspaper and sent everyone who responded the same reading, built from the birth chart of the serial killer Marcel Petiot. About 94% of the recipients said it described them accurately.

This doesn’t mean all astrological texts are empty. It means something more important: recognizing yourself in a text proves nothing. Everyone tries general statements on for size, and the feeling “that’s me” comes before critical thinking kicks in. So you need an objective test rather than a feeling.

Six signs of a text that would fit anyone

  1. The statement is true of most people. “Being understood matters to you,” “you’re capable of more than you show.”
  2. It covers both possibilities. “Sometimes you’re outgoing, sometimes you keep to yourself.” A statement like this can’t be wrong: whichever way you are, it fits.
  3. It leans toward flattery. Strengths are described in detail, and weaknesses come dressed as virtues (“you’re too kind for your own good”).
  4. It isn’t tied to time. Periods are described as “soon,” “in the near future,” “when the time comes,” with no dates or ranges.
  5. It doesn’t say where the conclusion comes from. The statement just hangs there, and you can’t tell what in the calculation produced it.
  6. It can’t be disproved. Whatever happens in your life, the text stays true.

Six signs of a text written about one person

  1. Each conclusion shows what it’s based on. You can see which part of the calculation produced the sentence.
  2. There are periods with dates instead of “soon.” Date ranges rather than hints.
  3. It makes claims that could turn out wrong. If the whole text is flawlessly pleasant, that points to vagueness rather than accuracy.
  4. Confidence is stated in words. You can see where the calculation points directly, where several indicators agree, and where it’s the astrologer’s hypothesis. Percentages don’t work for this: they read like the odds of an event, when they really mean how strong the support is.
  5. It says when nothing was found. If the calculation doesn’t point to anything on a topic, the text says so instead of filling the space with generalities.
  6. It turns some cases down. The writer says which cases they don’t take on. A text that works for any input usually isn’t based on any.

What to do if a reading doesn’t ring true

The first thing to check is the birth time. A reading depends on how the chart is divided into areas of life, and the time sets those boundaries down to the minute. With the wrong time, the boundaries fall in the wrong places, and the text, however convincing, isn’t about you. The article “Why four minutes can move your forecast by a year” explains why.

Common questions

So do the Forer and Gauquelin experiments disprove astrology? No, they’re about something else: how people judge a text about themselves. The How it works page shows what goes into our readings. For people born at almost the same moment, see the article “Why people born at the same time live different lives”.

How can I check a reading if I know nothing about astrology? With the lists above: they don’t take any special knowledge. Take five or six statements in a row and ask about each one: could this turn out to be wrong, and does it say where it comes from?

And if the text fit me perfectly, is that a bad sign? It’s a reason to take a closer look. A match can be real, but a text where everything is flawlessly pleasant is worth rereading with the first list in hand.