Zodiac Signs and Personality Traits

!Are Zodiac sign descriptions reliable indicators of

personality identification for students at Austin High

School?

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Morgan O’Hanlon

AP Statistics Period

6th Period

12/12/2014

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Astrology is the study of movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted

as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world. Western astrology is a branch off

of traditional astrology, which dates back to 3000 B.C. in modern day India, and bases most of

its teachings off of Ptolemic teachings of the 2nd century. There are 12 Zodiac signs, each named

after a constellation and representing different celestial bodies. Today, astrology is most

commonly seen through its presence in magazines and newspapers. In the past several decades,

interest in astrology has risen and teenagers in particular devour their daily horoscopes with

knowledge of their Zodiac signs.

For my statistics project, I was interested in testing the accuracy of people’s Zodiac-sign

descriptions. After some discussion with a friend and categorizing people we know into groups

by their zodiac signs, we began to notice similarities amongst members of these groups. This

observation led me to become interested in the validity of Zodiac signs in describing a person’s

personality. I decided to focus on teenagers at Austin High in particular, because I believe that

information which may help to expose the validity of astrology would be of interest to a group of

people who uses it frequently. The main question presented by my study is: Are Zodiac signs an

accurate predictor of certain personality traits in people? I believe that people’s personalities will

be similar enough to that described by their Zodiac descriptions that they will most often choose

their own Zodiac description as one of the top three they most identify with.

Since all I wished to prove from my study was whether or not a correlation existed

between Zodiac description and actual personality, I figured that a survey would suit my needs.

The survey I designed would list the 12 descriptions of the different Zodiac signs. I would have

participants pick the top 3 descriptions which best fit their personality and rate them from 1 to 3

with 1 being the best fitting and 3 being the least. Next, I would ask their date of birth to see

whether or not their top choices matched their true zodiac sign.

The first step in creating my survey was to write it. For the brief descriptions that I would

need for each Zodiac sign, I visited (astrology website) and paraphrased the basic description.

When it came to formatting, I had to consider several elements in order to control for various

sources of bias. In order to prevent participants from using previous knowledge of Zodiac signs

to influence their answers, I did not include any information besides the necessary description.

The order of the descriptions of Zodiac signs was rearranged in a randomized order by

numbering the signs a two-digit number from one to twelve and then using a random number

generator to produce the values in the order that they would be presented on the survey. This is to

prevent people from choosing based on any month of birth if they do become aware of the nature

of the survey. Additionally, the date of birth was asked at the end of the survey in order to

prevent anyone from guessing at the intent of the survey.

I implemented my survey by collecting a clustered random sample. First, I randomly

selecting either 2nd, 3rd, 6th, or 7th period to gather data from. I excluded the first and last

periods of each day in order to account for the fact that many juniors and seniors have off periods

during these times. I randomly chose 2nd period. Then, I made a list of all the room numbers

with 2nd period classes at Austin High School. I assigned each of these 89 classrooms a 2 digit

number from 01 to 89. These classes would be my clusters due to the diversity of subjects’

personalities within each class. To select which classes I would survey, I used a random number

generator to select 4 of these classes, or approximately 5 percent. I excluded any repeat of these

numbers. I surveyed every willing participant in each of the classes I selected. The total number

of participants in my survey was 95 students.

The results of my survey yielded data which was contradictory to my original ideas.

Below are graphs which I procured from the data I gathered in my survey and descriptions which

summarize my conclusions about their results.

Fig. 1

!!!! Given that the probability of selecting your own Zodiac sign at random is one twelfth, the

probability of selecting Zodiac sign at random on either the first, second, or third time is three

twelfths, or one fourth (.25). Participants in this survey were asked to select the top three

descriptions which they believed best represented their personalities. Despite that people were

able to choose their top choices, the sample’s results produced a nearly identical probability (.

253) to choosing three Zodiac signs at random and getting your actual Zodiac sign. Because the

probability of these two events are so similar, it seems that Zodiac description is not an accurate

way to measure a person’s personality.

The next graph depicts each Zodiac sign and the percentages of people who answered

their own Zodiac description as one of the three most accurate in their self-identification. The

blue in this graph represents the percentage of people who identified their personalities with their

actual Zodiac description. Scorpios had the highest rate of correct identification. For the most

part, however, most Zodiac signs had approximately similar probabilities - all at approximately

twenty-five percent - of being correctly identified in accordance to actual astrological sign. This

is significant to my study because it indicates that the probability of selecting your actual Zodiac

sign is about the same, no matter what sign you have. This supports the overall conclusion that

that picking a Zodiac sign is independent of one’s personality.

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

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Fig. 3

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Figure Three displays the frequency of each one of the twelve Zodiac signs occurring in

all of the 285 total responses, included in the top three of all 95 survey participants. The Taurus

personality description clearly had a much higher frequency than any of the others. This graph

makes it clear that some descriptions may be more general, and therefore more identifiable with,

than others. This is made especially obvious in the discrepancy between the frequencies of

Taurus and Gemini. These observations have led me to believe that wording of the survey may

be a confounding variable in my study.

Ultimately, my original hypothesis that there would be a correlation between personality

identification and zodiac description proved to be incorrect. Personality and Zodiac sign appear

to be two events which are independent of each other. Therefore, it seems that Zodiac sign is not

an accurate indicator of personality traits. I believe that this conclusion can be be extrapolated to

apply to all teenagers in high school due to the randomness of the sample selected and the

diversity of students who attend Austin High. However, in the future I would like to do a more in

depth study of this topic by conducting an experiment using a personality test, rather than

conducting a survey.

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Appendix A - Survey

Which of the following descriptions best describes yourself? !Note: Please rate the top 3 descriptions in order of best fit: 1 being the most accurate, 2 being 2nd most accurate, and 3 being 3rd most accurate !_____ Solid and fight for what you want. Easy going but can also be stubborn. You procrastinate but also have a good work ethic. !_____ You are versatile. You enjoy security but also seek adventure. You aren’t very predictable and always keep others guessing. !_____ Versatile and known for your energy; a social butterfly. Will always take your life in the direction they want to go. !_____ You have high self esteem and are very devoted, kind, and generous. You are known for being hot tempered yet forgiving. !_____ Extremely sensitive and reserved. You like to escape from reality. You’re a very good listener and friend. !_____ Very mind oriented. You’re constantly analyzing and thinking. You are an introvert and enjoy time alone. !_____ You are known for their diplomatic nature and friendliness. You have expensive taste and work hard to make money. !______You are very intense and like to question everything to make sense of things. You treat others with kindness and loyalty. !______ You have a very positive outlook on life, a vibrant personality, and enjoy meeting new people. You can also be reckless. !______You are marked by your ambitious nature. You have a very active mind and always have to be in control of your life. !_____ Independent and courageous. You are enthusiastic and enjoy leading others and bringing excitement into the lives of others. !______ You don't always care what others think about you and take each opportunity and work towards formulating new ideas. What is your date of birth? (mm/dd/yyyy): _____________________________________

Appendix B - Spreadsheet !1st 2nd 3rd Actual Picked correct?

virgo pisces capricorn cancer no

sagittarius taurus aquarius virgo no

leo virgo pisces capricorn no

scorpio virgo sagittarius sagittarius yes

cancer libra scorpio sagittarius yes

aries sagittarius capricorn aquarius no

libra pisces virgo pisces yes

virgo aquarius cancer aries no

virgo cancer aries leo no

capricorn aquarius sagittarius aquarius yes

libra capricorn aries aries yes

scorpio pisces capricorn aries no

scorpio capricorn pisces libra no

taurus virgo pisces virgo yes

leo aquarius aries capricorn no

taurus aries libra aquarius no

taurus virgo leo cancer no

taurus pisces libra virgo no

taurus gemini cancer aries no

sagittarius taurus virgo aries no

capricorn aries aquarius leo no

virgo pisces sagittarius taurus no

pisces taurus virgo leo no

scorpio leo taurus leo yes

aries sagittarius capricorn aries yes

leo sagittarius virgo aquarius no

libra cancer capricorn cancer yes

taurus aries virgo capricorn no

taurus gemini aries capricorn no

aries gemini taurus libra no

taurus capricorn libra virgo no

cancer taurus scorpio sagittarius no

pisces taurus capricorn taurus yes

scorpio gemini capricorn leo no

virgo cancer scorpio gemini no

aries taurus cancer aquarius no

sagittarius aries taurus taurus yes

leo scorpio sagittarius aquarius no

taurus aries cancer leo no

cancer sagittarius leo capricorn no

taurus libra leo aquarius no

gemini taurus aries pisces no

cancer sagittarius scorpio taurus no

scorpio gemini cancer libra no

aries taurus capricorn aries yes

aries cancer taurus aries yes

taurus scorpio sagittarius aquarius no

virgo capricorn taurus leo no

leo scorpio taurus aries no

taurus cancer libra sagittarius no

sagittarius aries virgo cancer no

leo virgo capricorn capricorn yes

leo taurus capricorn leo yes

scorpio leo aquarius capricorn no

cancer aries scorpio taurus no

leo aries taurus leo yes

virgo scorpio pisces sagittarius no

taurus virgo scorpio libra no

scorpio sagittarius capricorn taurus no

taurus sagittarius gemini scorpio no

taurus aries gemini scorpio no

cancer taurus sagittarius virgo no

sagittarius cancer scorpio scorpio yes

virgo capricorn pisces libra no

taurus aries leo aries yes

aries capricorn scorpio pisces no

virgo scorpio pisces sagittarius no

taurus pisces aquarius libra no

virgo pisces scorpio capricorn no

scorpio leo pisces leo yes

sagittarius taurus aries cancer no

cancer scorpio taurus capricorn no

taurus leo scorpio scorpio yes

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sagittarius libra aquarius aries no

gemini aries pisces cancer no

leo gemini taurus scorpio no

libra taurus aquarius gemini no

pisces leo scorpio pisces yes

leo aries sagittarius pisces no

taurus scorpio pisces cancer no

scorpio taurus cancer scorpio yes

gemini taurus aries leo no

gemini taurus aries sagittarius no

taurus sagittarius aquarius aquarius yes

leo cancer taurus scorpio no

capricorn scorpio pisces leo no

gemini aquarius aries pisces no

sagittarius aquarius leo aries no

libra scorpio gemini taurus no

virgo cancer aquarius virgo yes

aries taurus leo leo no

libra cancer gemini aries no

taurus sagittarius capricorn pisces no

cancer libra leo pisces no

taurus virgo pisces sagittarius no

Appendix C - Signatures !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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!Works Cited !

Bhimani, Alisha. "Zodiac Signs." The Zodiac:. University of Florida, n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2014. !Hall, Molly. "What Is Astrology?" About. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. !Venefica, Avia. "Zodiac Sign Dates, Symbols and Meanings." Whats-your-sign.com. N.p., n.d. ! Web. 2 Dec. 2014. !!!!!!!!!!!!