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This study examines whether individuals believe in the reality of positive personality traits more readily than negative traits, when these are falsely ascribed to them in a bogus feedback situation. Twenty-seven participants first filled out a personality test, then a list of traits (positive, negative and neutral) was presented for them to rate how well each one described their own personality. A seven-point scale was used to assess the perceived accuracy for each supposed trait. The three types of statements, demand characteristics, and genders were compared for their effects on perceived accuracy of ascribed traits, using a 3 x 2 x 2 mixed ANOVA. The results indicate that the type of trait presented to the participant affected the rating in relative terms, according to the principle of self-serving bias, whereas gender and demand characteristics showed no significant effect. It appears that the self-serving bias is powerful enough to cancel the usual Barnum effect, in which subjects typically show marked gullibility for statements about themselves.
Past studies of the `Barnum effect' have consistently demonstrated that individuals have a strong tendency to accept bogus feedback of personality tests (Foyer, 1949; Layne, 1998; Standing & Keays, 1986), habitually displaying a high level of gullibility. This problem is of interest since it can give an insight into the ways people perceive themselves. The latter two studies mentioned above used computer assessments of personality traits to demonstrate that individuals will have a high tendency to accept positive statements about themselves, even if these statements are inaccurate.
The main interest in the present study is to determine, using a computerized personality test, whether or not people will accept positive statements, but reject negative statements about themselves, so as to test for a relationship between the Barnum effect and the phenomenon of self-serving bias. According to many studies, people show a pervasive tendency towards self-serving bias: to perceive themselves favorably, no matter what the objective evidence (e.g., Johnson, Gain, Falke, Hayman, & Perillo, 1985; Ross & Sicoly, 1979). Can this tendency cancel out the usual Barnum process when the two processes are pitted in opposition? Typical studies of the Barnum effect have used traits which are essentially positive, although Snyder and Shenkel (1976), for example, have found that people more readily...