The Origins of Barnum Effect: Who Was Barnum, Actually, And What Does It Have To Do With Your Career Development?

Although psychologists have recognized this phenomenon for centuries, psychologist Paul Meehl coined the term “Barnum Effect” in 1956. He named it after P. T. Barnum (1810-1891). Barnum was a showman, entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, and politician who had become infamous for his fishy ways of making money back in the day.

Despite owning several successful businesses, Barnum primarily considered himself a showman. He established a variety troupe called “Barnum’s Grand Scientific and Musical Theater,” and he later upgraded it to “Barnum’s American Museum.” 

As a result, the venue soon became a popular showplace in New York City, and it started attracting an international audience. In fact, by 1946, the museum was hosting more than 400,000 visitors a year. 

What Made Barnum Famous?

Overall, Barnum was non-apologetic and bold with his advertising strategies. He saw nothing wrong in using a hoax to attract the attention of potential clients.

For instance, to get attention for his musical theatre, he leased a creature known as the “Feejee” mermaid. It had the body of a monkey and the tail of a fish. It was a hoax, but it worked like charm! The mermaid was attracting new visitors like a magnet.

He also dressed a four-year-old boy named Charles Stratton as an 11-year-old. Then, he introduced the boy to the public as “General Tom Thumb” or “the Smallest Person that ever Walked Alone”. And then, he let the boy drink wine and smoke cigars by the age of seven for the public’s amusement.

Barnum could go to any length to sell his shows. Many credited him as the author of the phrase “There is a sucker born every minute,” although there is no formal proof of it. Interestingly, despite his fondness for conning people into buying his products and services, he criticized mediums, astrology, and other supernatural means of communication. Please also check the documentary dedicated to PT Barnum entitled “The Greatest Showman: The Dark Truth” at MagnatesMedia YouTube channel.

How The Barnum Effect Was Discovered And What It Means.

Ironically, the phenomenon known in psychology today as the Barnum effect has much to do with astrology. This phenomenon leads individuals to assign high accuracy ratings to generic, vague descriptions of their own personalities. It especially happens when someone introduces these descriptions as tailor-made just for them.

Indeed, this is possible due to the fact that people are, in general, more similar than they think. We all have some fears and doubts in our lives, and most of us suffer from impostor syndrome to a certain extent. Therefore, it is not difficult to construct a piece of text that sounds personal, yet, applies to the wide majority of people.

The Barnum effect was first formally investigated by Ross Stagner in 1947. In the study, Stagner distributed a personality test among a group of managers. After the test, he did not respond with individual feedback based on their answers. Instead, he presented participants with generalized feedback that had no relation to their answers.

Researchers based this generalized feedback on horoscopes and similar sources. The feedback showed no correlation with individual results. Despite this, the overwhelming majority of the study participants assessed the results as accurate!

Then, in the following year, Bertram R. Forer conducted his famous psychological study. He gave a group of 39 students 13 statements that supposedly represented their individual personality profiles. While in fact, all statements were generic phrases found in an astrology book by Forer himself.

According to Forer’s original 1949 study published in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, participants rated the accuracy of this identical, generic personality sketch at an average of 4.26 out of 5.