Effective Well Research Articles

The Barnum Effect in a Group Setting

The present study expands the typical Barnum effect paradigm by investigating reactions to feedback in a group setting. People initially participated in a group experience (8 per group), and then were given bogus positive or negative feedback (the favorability manipulation) purportedly prepared by either the group leader or another group member (the source status manipulation). The answerability manipulation led participants to believe that they either would or would not have to share their reactions to the feedback with the person who prepared it. Positive feedback was rated as more accurate and accepted more highly than the negative feedback, though no differences in recall of either the positive or negative feedback emerged. Additionally, a pattern of results revealed that the feedback from the group leader generated greater perceived accuracy, acceptance, and recall than did feedback from another group member. Implications for the impact of feedback given by a high status person in group settings are discussed.

Inventory Responding Models People's Acceptance of Feedback 'Derived' from Tests and from Interviews

Sixty-four undergraduates were individually and randomly given one of four assessment procedures: The Rorschach, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Structured Interview, or Unstructured Interview. Students then completed a series of 7-point Likert-type rating scales indicating their perception of the assessment. One week later students individually received identical personality descriptors, presented either as personality "feedback" or as a personality "test". Finally, students completed a second Likert-type rating task, again indicating their faith in the assessment and perception of the examiner's skill. Layne and Michels' model that inventory responding parallels people's acceptance of Barnum feedback was supported. Descriptor favorability significantly enhanced acceptance of both "feedback" and inventory items, while type of prior assessment had no significant effect on either behavior. Student perceptions of assessment accurately paralleled characteristics of each type of assessment. Finally, student faith in the assessment and perception of the examiner's skill failed to significantly increase from before to after receiving "feedback" It was concluded that inventory responding accurately models the Barnum Effect and that people accept feedback rationally, not gullibly.

The Barnum effect: Rationality versus gullibility?

The Barnum effect: Rationality versus gullibility?

The Barnum effect: Rationality versus gullibility?

The Barnum effect: Rationality versus gullibility?

Effects of enhanced psychological test feedback on treatment outcome: Therapeutic implications of the Barnum effect.

Effects of enhanced psychological test feedback on treatment outcome: Therapeutic implications of the Barnum effect.

Effects of enhanced psychological test feedback on treatment outcome: Therapeutic implications of the Barnum effect.

Effects of enhanced psychological test feedback on treatment outcome: Therapeutic implications of the Barnum effect.

Acceptance of personality interpretations: The "Barnum effect" and beyond.

Acceptance of personality interpretations: The "Barnum effect" and beyond.

Acceptance of personality interpretations: The "Barnum effect" and beyond.

Acceptance of personality interpretations: The "Barnum effect" and beyond.

Effects of source prestige on subjects' acceptance of the Barnum effect: Psychologist versus astrologer.

Effects of source prestige on subjects' acceptance of the Barnum effect: Psychologist versus astrologer.

The "Barnum effect" and acceptance of negative personal evaluation.

The "Barnum effect" and acceptance of negative personal evaluation.

Some therapeutic uses of psychologic testing.

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article ArticlesNo AccessSome Therapeutic Uses of Psychologic TestingHarold H. Mosak*, Ph.D., Robin S. Gushurst, Ph.D.Harold H. Mosak*Chicago, Ill.*2913 N. Commonwealth Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60657.Search for more papers by this author, Ph.D., Robin S. GushurstChicago, Ill.Search for more papers by this author, Ph.D.Published Online:30 Apr 2018https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1972.26.4.539AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail PDFThis content is only available as a PDF. Access content To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access. Personal login Institutional Login Sign in via OpenAthens Purchase Save for later Item saved, go to cart PPV Articles - APT - American Journal of Psychotherapy $35.00 Add to cart PPV Articles - APT - American Journal of Psychotherapy Checkout Please login/register if you wish to pair your device and check access availability. Not a subscriber? Subscribe Now / Learn More PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5 library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development. Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.). FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited byPersonality assessment usage and mental health among Chinese adolescents: A sequential mediation model of the Barnum effect and ego identity2 February 2023 | Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 14Comprehensive care of ICU survivors: Development and implementation of an ICU recovery centerJournal of Critical Care, Vol. 46Psychotherapy Research, Vol. 21, No. 5Therapeutic Neuropsychological Assessment: A Humanistic Model and Case Example23 August 2007 | Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 48, No. 3The Humanistic Psychologist, Vol. 30, No. 1-2Journal of Personality Assessment, Vol. 69, No. 3Journal of Personality Assessment, Vol. 64, No. 2Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 34, No. 2 Volume 26Issue 4 1972, pp. 477–629Pages 539-546 Metrics PDF download History Published online 30 April 2018 Published in print 1 October 1972

Diagnosis and Evaluation for (Almost) All Occasions

A surprisingly large number of people in need of personal counseling tend to take their problems to astrologers, palm readers, pseudopsychologists, and professional char latans.1 Even more surprising are the fre quent testimonials offered by the clients of such practitioners to the psychological as tuteness of the counselor. Perhaps most surprising is that such testimonials are not always unwarranted. The charlatan counselor, whether he recognizes it or not, generally tends to operate in terms of what has been called the Barnum effect. 2 In giving a character reading of the client he selects diagnostic statements that, because they are universally valid or nearly so, tend to be accepted as perceptively correct. Forer tested this procedure with a class of 39 beginning psychology students.3 Each was asked to complete a psychological test —the Forer Diagnostic Interest Blank—and was told that on the basis of his responses to the diagnostic form an individual per sonality sketch was to be written. Forer, however, wrote a single diagnostic state ment, which was composed of Barnum effect phrases culled from a newsstand astrology book. The following are typical of the comments that constituted this state

On the Barnum effect

On the Barnum effect

Review of Forer Vocational Survey.

Review of Forer Vocational Survey.