RELEVANCE OF INTERPRETATION AS THE DETERMINANT OF THE BARNUM EFFECT

Abstract

The current research features the relevance of the psychological portrait as a factor of influence on the Barnum effect. The article contains some definitions of the phenomenon in question, as well as some other relevant concepts. It offers a brief review of the literature on the matter. The subjects of the research were full-time students of the Far East Federal University and the Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University, who were offered to relate a trivial personal description to their self-concept. The study was carried out in accordance with the standard procedure used in empirical studies of the Barnum effect. The processing of the obtained data was carried out with the help of the Pearson statistical criterion χ2 . Based on the results of the study, a statistically significant difference in the assessment of the accuracy of the trivial personal description was found. The difference depends on the type of relevance, which clarifies the current understanding of the Barnum effect. The conclusion features some further ways of investigating the Barnum effect and using the obtained data.