A Truly Scientific Investigation into Astrology

Astrology is a bit like marmite; some people love it, some people hate it. It is a subject which tends to garner strong opinions of those who follow it and those who don’t, with critics claiming that there is no way that the billions of people currently alive cannot all have the same 12 personality types. And I mean, surely they are right? I am a Sagittarius, born on the 27th November, probably at the same time as thousands of other people - is our identical fate already written in the stars?

So, I put this to the test. I googled the phrase “guess my astrology sign” and I did the top 10 quizzes that came up and recorded my answers. Some of the questions were quite similar so I tried to answer similar questions with the same answers, for science of course. Here are my results, I made some graphs so you know this is truly a scientific study:

How many questions did the quizzes have?

The quizzes were quite varied in length, with most being in the 20 or less category. The biggest quiz had 50 questions, and took me at least 10 minutes to complete!

Common questions seemed to ask me about my personality: whether I was an introvert or an extrovert, my ideal date, am I a natural born leader, and so on. There were also a lot of questions about my relationships with my friends, family and romantic partners. And there were a few questions which asked about which element I connect most with or which planet in the solar system.

How many quizzes offered multiple guesses based on the quiz, and how many gave one answer?

Although only 3 quizzes seemed to bulk together multiple signs when they finally guesses, I still felt it was important to feedback on this. On two occasions, the answer was based on the element a series of signs were connected to; one was water and the other was fire. And on another occasion it came up with Cancer/ Pisces; both water signs but for some reason missing the third water sign, Scorpio, which there was no explanation for. When it gave multiple answers, I counted each of them as one guess, so when I share the overall stats, there are more answers than the original 10 quizzes.

What did the quizzes guess my star sign is?

What a mixed bag! Both coming in at 3 guesses is Pisces and Cancer. I’m not sure why it was more common for the quizzes to think I was a water sign than anything else. Part of me thinks it was due to the fact that the element I most identify with is water, when my sign is connected to fire. Or maybe I just give off that vibe.

How many times did the quizzes correctly guess my star sign?

My actual star sign, Sagittarius, was guessed once - BUT, this was guessed on one of the multiple answer quizzes which guessed I was a fire sign. I don’t know if that makes the guess more or less accurate, but I would have been more impressed had a quiz come to a final conclusion of just Sagittarius.

Further Super Scientific Research

After I finished the quizzes, I wondered ‘why didn’t I get my own star sign more?’ I noticed a lot of the questions were centred around personality, and I wondered how well I square up to Sagittarius stereotypes. So again, I entrusted myself to a very scientific website. Buzzfeed.

On a quiz about whether I was a typical Sagittarius I scored 4 out of 96 based on a series of Sagittarius stereotype statements. I was so disappointed! As you can tell based on the comments, the statements really didn’t gel with me very well at all.

Sagittarius seemed to be presented as an extroverted adventurous type, who despite being a good friend with a good sense of humour, also seemed to be happy to hurt people’s feelings by saying it as it is and leaving people on read. Whereas I am more of an extroverted introvert, who prefers my home comforts, and I am not that blunt or loud about anything.

I decided to do further research and so I went onto the top astrological page I found to see what the professionals had to say. On GaneshaSpeaks, a very similar analysis of the Sagittarius sign however, there were more explanations. The page summarises that Sagittarius’ are:

Positive Traits: Smart, Caring, Deep, Honest and Wild

Negative Traits: Impatient, Careless, Boastful, Attention seeking and Brutal

Of course I would agree with some of these things; I do think I am smart, caring and deep. But I don’t feel like I am honest, wild or any of the things under the negative traits. I don’t see myself as careless with my words, and although I am an honest person I am not someone to “say it like it is,” I would rather approach the subject with more optimism.

When I did a little bit of reading and watching of videos, I discovered that the sign which best represents you is supposed to be the sign in the “first house” of your natal chart when you track the placement of the stars at the time of your birth. (At least I think... I am not a professional.) So when I filled this information in and got the information out, I discovered I might be a Capricorn… so using the same website as before I compared the traits I feel I have to the traits listed for Capricorn.

Positive Traits: Loyal, Hardworking, Team player, Ambitious and Classy

Negative Traits: Overly Serious, Critical, Melancholy, Unforgiving and Suspicious

To be fair, this does seem more accurate to me. Looking at the page on Capricorns there is less of a focus on being loud and proud like there is with Sagittarius’ and more of a focus on other aspects; ie the fact they work hard and are ambitious. I also like that it says team player as I think this contrasts to Sagittarius because I am more of an introvert and a background person, which means I work well in a team. However, Capricorn didn't come up once on any of the personality quizzes - and I am starting to believe this wasn't a very scientific study after all...

Conclusions: So, is there any truth in all this?

Maybe. Maybe not. All I know is that this morning, when I saw a Sagittarius daily horoscope pop up on my feed I clicked on it.

And it told me that today would be a good day to do some work I had been putting off, and I remembered I had some university reading I had been putting off and I did that. It told me that the stars had aligned properly for me to make some progress, and I did.

And it told me that today would be a good day to get some fresh air, so I went on a walk with my boyfriend and my dog and it was great.

It told me I might be feeling a bit stressed because of what Venus was up to and that I should have some self care, and I did.

There might not be a lot of truth in star signs when it comes to your personality but a horoscope can sometimes remind you or encourage you to do some chores or take some time for self care. And sometimes if you are having a crap time and your horoscope agrees, isn’t it better to blame everything on mercury in retrograde than on something more earthbound?

Something a lot of people struggle to do is to let go of things. Why waste your energy hating on people who enjoy star sign culture when you could be doing something else?

I may pick it up and put it down, but I think it's pretty cool to think that stars want to help me out a little.

Thanks for reading, have a great day!

Links to sites used:

https://www.magiquiz.com/quiz/can-we-guess-your-zodiac-sign/

https://www.buzzfeed.com/siesiem/we-know-your-zodiac-sign-based-on-how-react-to-th-fp35nqhy3z

https://www.buzzfeed.com/hattiemad/we-can-guess-your-zodiac-sign-based-on-these-twelv-6lbc35fnhp

https://www.thequiz.com/quick-zodiac-sign-quiz/

https://quizly.co/can-we-guess-your-zodiac-sign-based-on-your-personality/

https://play.howstuffworks.com/quiz/can-we-guess-your-zodiac-sign-based-on-these-random-questions

https://astrologyanswers.com/quiz/guess-your-zodiac-sign-based-on-favorite-colors/

https://www.zoo.com/quiz/answer-these-random-questions-well-guess-your-zodiac-sign

https://www.playbuzz.com/sofiapetroski10/can-we-guess-your-zodiac-sign

https://www.playbuzz.com/katethomas10/can-we-guess-your-astrological-sign-based-on-your-taste-in-men

https://www.buzzfeed.com/amani727/how-much-of-a-stereotype-sagittarius-are-you-b8nuoht9eb?bfsource=bfocompareon