Zodiac Signs and Personality Traits

Zodiac Signs and Personality Traits
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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
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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?

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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
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_____ Solid and fight for what you want. Easy going but can also be stubborn. You procrastinate
but also have a good work ethic.
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_____ You are versatile. You enjoy security but also seek adventure. You aren’t very predictable
and always keep others guessing.
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_____ Versatile and known for your energy; a social butterfly. Will always take your life in the
direction they want to go.
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_____ You have high self esteem and are very devoted, kind, and generous. You are known for
being hot tempered yet forgiving.
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_____ Extremely sensitive and reserved. You like to escape from reality. You’re a very good
listener and friend.
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_____ Very mind oriented. You’re constantly analyzing and thinking. You are an introvert and
enjoy time alone.
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_____ You are known for their diplomatic nature and friendliness. You have expensive taste and
work hard to make money.
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______You are very intense and like to question everything to make sense of things. You treat
others with kindness and loyalty.
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______ You have a very positive outlook on life, a vibrant personality, and enjoy meeting new
people. You can also be reckless.
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______You are marked by your ambitious nature. You have a very active mind and always have
to be in control of your life.
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_____ Independent and courageous. You are enthusiastic and enjoy leading others and bringing
excitement into the lives of others.
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______ 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
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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
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
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Appendix C - Signatures
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Works Cited

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Bhimani, Alisha. "Zodiac Signs." The Zodiac:. University of Florida, n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.

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Hall, Molly. "What Is Astrology?" About. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.

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Venefica, Avia. "Zodiac Sign Dates, Symbols and Meanings." Whats-your-sign.com. N.p., n.d.

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Web. 2 Dec. 2014.

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Zodiac Signs and Personality Traits

personality identification for students at Austin High

knowledge of their Zodiac signs.

prevent anyone from guessing at the intent of the survey.

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

of participants in my survey was 95 students.

summarize my conclusions about their results.

way to measure a person’s personality.

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

be a confounding variable in my study.

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

Which of the following descriptions best describes yourself?

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