Using Daily Horoscopes to Demonstrate Expectancy Confirmation

Abstract

Prior expectations can lead a person to process information in a biased manner such that the expectations are confirmed. Despite its prevalence in everyday judgments, people lack insight into expectancy confirmation processes. The classroom demonstration we describe uses daily horoscopes to demonstrate the powerful effect that expectations can have on judgments. More students reported that the events of a recent day most closely matched the prediction for their particular astrological sign when the astrological signs were presented along with the predictions than when they were not. Students reported that the demonstration was interesting, and 95% of the students correctly answered a question regarding the phenomenon on a subsequent examination.