the-astrology-book

Psychology and Astrology
logical tradition, even-numbered signs (Aries, Gemini, etc.) were more extroverted
than odd-numbered signs (Taurus, Cancer, etc.). Most later studies failed to confirm
Mayo’s study, with the exception of one by Jan J. Van Rooij and others in the May 1988
issue of the Journal of Psychology, which successfully replicated the Mayo article.
Occupation
The various studies by Françoise and Michel Gauquelin dealt with in the essay
on vocational astrology have successfully demonstrated significant correlations
between occupation and the positions of certain planets at birth. Most studies of sun
signs have failed to find statistically significant correlations between sun signs and
professions, although there was a series that appeared in the Guardian, a British newspaper,
in 1984 that showed correlations from census data. A disingenuous critique
published in the Skeptical Inquirer the next year attempted to explain away the
Guardian study as resulting from the imputed tendency of people to pick professions
based on a prior knowledge of the professions associated with their sun signs.
Belief in Astrology
An interesting line of research that several different researchers have pursued
is the correlation between belief in astrology and certain other personality traits,
although most such studies are undertaken to demonstrate that “believers” in the science
of the stars are weak or defective in some way. Thus, for example, in February
1980, the Journal of Social Psychology published an article by Ruth H. Sosis and others
that found that a belief in fate was correlated with a belief in astrology. They also
found that females were more likely to believe in astrology than males. In 1982, the
journal Personality and Individual Difference published an article by G. A. Tyson that
hypothesized a correlation between astrological clients and stressful social roles. And
in 1983, the same journal published an article reporting a study by Michael Startup
that found no signs of neuroticism in astrology students, although it did find correlations
between astrology students and psychology students.
Miscellaneous Studies
Other interesting studies have appeared both within and outside mainstream
academic psychology. For example, in April 1988, the journal Perceptual and Motor
Skills published a study by Steven Stack and David Lester that found a correlation
between suicide ideation and people born under the sign Pisces (a correlation that one
would have anticipated from traditional astrology). Another interesting piece was a
1973 study by John Newmeyer and Steven Anderson that found Geminis, Virgos, and
Aquarians most likely to be heroin abusers, and Scorpios and Capricorns least likely.
Vernon Clark Administers Psychological Tests
The studies conducted by the American psychologist Vernon Clark belong in
a class by themselves. In 1959, he designed three tests that were given to 50
astrologers. In the first, astrologers were asked to match the natal charts of 10 people
with 10 short biographies that highlighted career, marriage, medical history, and hobbies.
All subjects were well established in their chosen profession.
[562] THE ASTROLOGY BOOK