In his classic 1948 experiment, Forer administered a personality test to his students. Rather than scoring the tests and giving individual assessments, he gave all the students the exact same analysis copied from a newspaper astrology column. The students were then asked to evaluate the description on a scale of zero through five, with five being the most accurate. The average evaluation was 4.26. The experiment has been repeated hundreds of times since 1948, and the average remains about 4.2.

Evaluation text:

Some of your aspirations tend to be pretty unrealistic.At times
you are extroverted, affable, sociable, while at other times you
are introverted, wary and reserved.You have found it unwise to
be too frank in revealing yourself to others.You pride yourself
on being an independent thinker and do not accept others’
opinions without satisfactory proof. You prefer a certain
amount of change and variety, and become dissatisfied when
hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. At times you have
serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision
or done the right thing. Disciplined and controlled on the
outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside.
Your sexual adjustment has presented some problems for
you. While you have some personality weaknesses, you are
generally able to compensate for them.You have a great deal of
unused capacity which you have not turned to your advantage.
You have a tendency to be critical of yourself.You have a strong
need for other people to like you and for them to admire you.