Have you ever wondered how the stars above are influencing your life? Some might say ‘it’s a concept’, some might say it is ‘a subject beyond science’ and some are ‘still searching for answers’.
Was the pandemic in 2020 predicted? In an era before scientific advancements or in a pre-industrial society, how did people predict tides based on the position of the moon? If the position of stars and the moon can affect nature, then why not us? Some say that astrology is deceptive, then why do people believe in it? Oodles of these questions arise while discussing Astrology. Scientists and Researchers have expended time and resources to find answers, but the answer to the question, “Is astrology really a thing?” remains ambiguous.
While reading up on Astrology, we found that the two of us (the authors) were perceiving the same information in different ways, based on the beliefs we already held. Approaching the same topic with opposing views led to a very interesting debate about where we would find a middle ground to work on, one that would not revolve around arguing over whether Astrology needed to be approached as a science, or a belief, and the need to defend either perspective. After watching our fair share of videos and explanations, there was one common understanding: the human psychology behind the interpretation of predictions bears resemblance to the actions of tech giants, who affect our lives virtually.
Reading further led us to one ploy which stood out in particular, The Hidden Persuaders. ‘The Hidden Persuaders’ is a way in which “they” communicate to you and influence your behaviour and thoughts, without you even being aware of it. The definition of “they” might change with context: if you were reading about magic, this is what a mentalist would do, if you are reading about persuasive/addictive tech, this would be a tech-giant. Roles change but the concept remains. In design, there is a common phrase which says “A good design is always intuitive”. But what makes it intuitive are these psychological effects, which we spotted while understanding how people interpret a prediction.
There are many ‘Hidden Persuaders’, and they’re all equally interesting to reflect upon in different contexts. We chose to elaborate on the ones that piqued our interest the most:
Halo Effect:
Are you less inclined to approve of ideas generated by a person whose personality you dislike?
Halo Effect is a social-psychology phenomenon which creates a bias in people’s belief which is heavily influenced by attributes of that person or thing (primarily physical). The term ‘halo’ is used in analogy with the glowing circle, usually above saints, as seen in medieval and renaissance paintings. If the viewers saw a ‘halo’ in a painting, they associated the person with good and positive traits.
Astrologers use this innately for the setup they use, the way they perform their ritual or present themselves, in the way they talk, and in the way that they project their knowledge. But it’s not just the visuals, interactions like picking up a card, curating a natal chart or spinning a wheel, are designed to make viewers feel a sense of participation, effectively increasing their personal involvement in this mysterious process.
People who read daily horoscopes on apps and websites tend to trust websites with a better user interface, because of a single preconceived notion, that ‘good looking websites are legitimate’. More importantly, herd mentality and selective memory come into play, with people more inclined to trust predictions that the people around them believe and to trust sources whose predictions have ‘come true’ before.
Within Design, Brand Identity is an implementation of the Halo Effect: whether or not the brand delivers a good product, there are certain expectations and beliefs set in place by their visual design which create a bias in the user’s mind. Brands maintain good and clean visual communication since it is the first level of interaction for most users. Another implementation of the Halo effect can be seen in the positive reviews of one product influencing people’s perceptions of another under the same brand name- a rather crude example of ‘you are the company you keep’.
Barnum effect
Are you often surprised by the accuracy of horoscope/predictions or online personality tests encountered on social media?
Barnum Effect or Forer Effect is a social psychology phenomenon that occurs when individuals believe that personality descriptions concern them more than others despite the fact the description is generic in nature. People think the information is about them because of its ambiguity.
It is easy to see how this effect could be employed in interpreting predictions. The Barnum effect is most easily seen in predictions based on a Zodiac sign, or in personality tests. In Astrology, common problems are identified like issues with money, health issues, relationships and career choices. Birthdate gives an age estimate, by choosing correct words in the correct context, problems are presented, with their share of ambiguity. This supposed accuracy is enough to create trust in the system and the Astrologer’s practice, the person opens up in fragments, and the astrologer connects the dots.
Again, this might not be true entirely, and is delving into the age-old ‘is Astrology for real?’ debate. Despite that, this is a school of thought that tons of service-based products rely upon. From e-commerce platforms to streaming services, they use this technique along with ‘cookie-based customization’. Not only e-commerce platforms but a lot of Facebook and BuzzFeed Quizzes function similarly.
Pygmalion effect
Do you find that your performance improves under the mentorship of someone who believes in you?
Pygmalion Effect, also known as the Rosenthal Effect, is the phenomenon where others’ expectations of a target person affect the target person’s performance. This definition brings to mind a phenomenon that most people experience in their early years: School teachers directing attention, and being ‘partial’ to their brightest students. if everyone had received that attention, would they have turned out differently?
Astrology works in a similar way, where it reassures the person that after hardships there will be a good day and that situations can be overcome with a little effort and by following certain suggestions. Research shows that people who read daily horoscopes actually experience the Pygmalion effect to a greater extent. A prediction in a newspaper can decide their mood and the way they react to an event in their day. They are more likely to act and behave the way that their horoscope predicted. This also opens up the discussion about whether certain characteristics which are attributed to a Zodiac sign might be self-grown over a period of time.
Within Design, this effect is seen in the way game designers design failure within a game, by showing two things — Highest Score and the points you’ve earned by playing that game. At this stage, the ‘Call to Action’ button will always say ‘TRY AGAIN’, helping build confidence among the users who have been trying so hard and their ‘Highest Scores’ are their proof, they can try again and reach the next level.
Confirmation Bias
Do you find that group projects are easier with people who think like you?
Confirmation bias is a tendency to search for, interpret and selectively recall only information which confirms a person’s prior beliefs or values. This bias shows up constantly in the way that people remember events and facts, and in the way that we interpret information. Confirmation bias is a strong contributor to the core reason that Astrology holds the popularity that it does. Even when presented with a lack of scientific evidence, believers in Astrology continue to believe. This could be explained in a number of ways, but comes down to the basic human need to hold on to certain faiths and beliefs, even if they may not make sense to the scientific mind. Confirmation bias also finds its way into how people interpret a prediction, and how they link certain events in their life or day, to confirm the ambiguous wordings of a prediction.
This is a constantly debated fallacy in research, simply because people have a tendency to avoid, ignore, or overlook data that might force them to change their hypothesis. At our level, as learners in the field of design, this bias comes into play when we choose to test our products on people who we know will rate it well, when we test them on people who are already familiar with our work, or when we choose to ignore certain data, simply because acknowledging it would lead to a lot of work. These are all very conscious applications of this bias, but it also exists subconsciously, in the way we interact with people, in the way that people with similar ideas work better in group projects, and in the way we interpret survey data.
Talking about these 4 factors is simply scratching the surface on the number of psychological factors that go into the interpretation of predictions, or the process of design. These factors are deeply interlinked, and more importantly, can be found in a number of other fields, arguably even throughout life.
If this discussion sparked some interest, reading about subjective validation, belief perseverance, the illusion of invulnerability, compliance, demand characteristics, false uniqueness effect, and illusory correlation should get you started on your own journey of exploring these concepts in relation to your field.
Happy reading!
Post Script: This article was written in collaboration with Malavika Vijayan, link to her social media is mentioned below.
