Astrology as a Culturally Transmitted Heuristic Scheme for Understanding Seasonality Effects: A Response to ,

Abstract

Astrology is a popular and resilient heuristic scheme for making sense of complex patterns in nature. Astrological heuristics are conveyed through communication in print and online media. Recent research found that the ecliptic longitude of sun signs predicts the frequency of celebrities-per-sign. A subsequent critique, however, attributed this large positive effect to methodological artifacts. The present study puts the alleged artifact hypotheses to an empirical test. One of the artifact hypotheses was sharply rejected, and no empirical support could be found for the second. Causal modeling indicated that although relative age in school (comparative maturity) increased the number of celebrities-per-sign, this effect on fame was largely mediated by ecliptic longitude sequence (ELS) and two other seasonal birth heuristics—wetness of sign (determined by astrological elements) and brightness of sign (determined by sign duality). Birth during depth of season, calculated from quality of sign, also increased celebrities-per-sign. The analysis found strong support for a mediation model with astrological aspects acting as personality proxies, although further research is needed to replicate these effects on celebrity.