Astrology: Are Followers Gullible? Examining the Evidence
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The Enduring appeal of Astrology
Table of Contents
Introduction
Would you be surprised if I told you that more Americans know their astrological signs than their blood type? That’s what a Quest Diagnostics survey found in 2023. According to their findings, 66 percent of Americans knew their horoscope sign, while only 58 percent knew their blood type (which declined to 47 percent of Millennials and 32 percent of those in Gen Z). Edwards et al. (2025) cited this unfortunate statistic in their recent research that claimed people with less education and intelligence had greater belief in astrology. Moreover, they found that women and people of color were more likely to be in this camp. But ther were limitations to that study, so let’s explore them and shed some light on why astrology maintains its popularity despite its lack of scientific validity.
The Survey Methodology and Findings
To understand the limitations of Edwards et al.’s (2025) findings that lower intelligence and less education predicted a greater belief in astrology requires an understanding of how the research was conducted. A survey of 8,553 US adults asked, “Do you believe astrology is scientific?” The available answers were not at all scientific, sort of scientific, and very scientific. 63.5 percent answered not at all scientific, 29.8 percent chose sort of scientific, and 6.7 percent selected very scientific.
As you might guess, the 63.5% majority of respondents who stated astrology is not at all scientific had higher education levels and intelligence scores, while people with less education and lower intelligence scores (and who happened to represent more of the women and people of color in the cohort) gave more scientific merit to astrology.
The researchers acknowledged that the wording of the survey does not measure belief in astrology and also stated that people may not have known what astrology was and/or may have confused it with astronomy.
Limitations of the Study and Broader Research
Perhaps one of the biggest limitations of this study, and general astrological research conducted to date, is a lack of understanding of the complexity of the systems being studied.