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Astronomy Education Review / Volume 10 / Issue 1 / RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS

2011, AER, 10 (1), 010101, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/AER2010040

Astrology Beliefs among Undergraduate Students

Published 14 April 2011

Hannah Sugarman, Chris Impey, Sanlyn Buxner, and Jessie Antonellis

Department of Astronomy, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721

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A survey of the science knowledge and attitudes toward science of nearly 10000 undergraduates at a large public university over a 20-year period included several questions addressing student beliefs in astrology and other forms of pseudoscience. The results from our data reveal that a large majority of students (78%) considered astrology “very” or “sort of” scientific. Only 52% of science majors said that astrology is “not at all” scientific. We find that students’ science literacy, as defined by the National Science Foundation in its surveys of the general public, does not strongly correlate with an understanding that astrology is pseudoscientific, and therefore belief in astrology is likely not a valid indicator of scientific illiteracy.

© 2011 The American Astronomical Society

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

astronomy, physics education

PACS

  • 01.40.-d

    Education

  • 01.90.+g

    Other topics of general interest (restricted to new topics in section 01)

  • 95.90.+v

    Historical astronomy and archaeoastronomy; and other topics in fundamental astronomy and astrophysics; instrumentation, techniques, and astronomical observations

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

1539-1515 (online)

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef The American Astronomical Society

ARTICLE DATA

History
Received 02 November 2010
Published online 14 April 2011
Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/AER2010040

    References

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  2. Cohen, J. B. 1985, Revolution in Science, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  3. De Roberts, M. M., and Delaney, P. A. 1992, “A Survey of the Attitudes of University Students to Astrology and Astronomy,” J. R. Astron. Soc. Canada, 87, 34.
  4. De Roberts, M. M., and Delaney, P. A. 2000, “A Second Survey of the Attitudes of University Students to Astrology and Astronomy,” J. R. Astron. Soc. Canada, 94, 112.
  5. Forer, B. R. 1949, “The Fallacy of Personal Validation: A Classroom Demonstration of Gullibility,” J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol., 44, 118.
  6. Glick, P., Gottesman, D., and Jolton, J. 1989, “The Fault is Not in the Stars: Susceptibility of Skeptics and Believers in Astrology to the Barnum Effect,” Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull., 15, 572.
  7. Hazen, R. M., and Trefil, J. 2009, Science Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy, New York: Random House.
  8. Hobson, A. 2008, “The Surprising Effectiveness of College Science Literacy Courses,” Phys. Teach., 46, 404PHTEAH000046000007000404000001.
  9. Impey, C. D. S., Buxner, S., Antonellis, J., Johnson, E., and King, C. 2011, “A Twenty Year Survey of Science Literacy among College Undergraduates,” J. Coll. Sci. Teach., 40, 70.
  10. Lillqvist, O., and Lindeman, M. 1998, “Belief in Astrology as a Strategy for Self-Verification and Coping with Negative Life-Events,” Eur. Psychol., 3, 202.
  11. Markus, H. 1977, “Self-Schemata and Processing Information about the Self,” J. Pers. Soc. Psychol., 35, 63.
  12. Miller, J. D. 2002, “Civic Science Literacy: A Necessity in the 21st Century,” FAS Public Interests Report, 55, 3.
  13. Padgett, V. R., and Jorgenson, D. O. 1982, “Superstition and Economical Threat: Germany, 1918–1949,” Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull., 8, 736.
  14. Sales, S. M. 1973, “Threat as a Factor in Authoritarianism: An Analysis of Archival Data,” J. Pers. Soc. Psychol., 36, 988.
  15. Shermer, M. 1997, Why People Believe Weird Things, New York: W.H. Freeman.
  16. Stehling, K. 1990, “Classical Astrology: A Precursor to Astronomy?,” in The Universe and Its Origins, ed. S. F. Singer, New York: Paragon House, 73.
  17. Swann, W. B. 1990, “To be Adored or to Be Known? The Interplay of Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification,” in Handbook of Motivation and Cognition. Foundations of Social Behavior, eds. E. T. Higgins and R. M. Sorrentino, New York: Guilford, vol. 2, 408.
  18. Thorndike, L. 1955, “The True Place of Astrology in the History of Science,” Isis, 46, 273.
  19. Tolbert, C. R. 1990, “Why Does Astrology Still Flourish?,” in The Universe and Its Origins: From Ancient Myth to Present Reality and Fantasy, ed. F. Singer, New York: Paragon House, 80.


Figures (5) Tables (2)

Figures (click on thumbnails to view enlargements)

FIG.1
Responses to the two astrology items, broken down by gender. There is a modest but statistically significant tendency for female students to state that astrology is sort of or very scientific, as well as to demonstrate agreement with the idea that the planets affect everyday life. Note that a very small percentage of students strongly agree with this idea, and the gender discrepancy for that particular response is statistically insignificant (12.5% of males and 11.8% of females chose strongly agree).

FIG.1 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.2
Responses by number of college science classes completed. After completion of the General Education science requirement of three courses, correct responses have nearly doubled. Many students who have completed four or more science courses are science majors.

FIG.2 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.3
Responses by class year to the forced-choice astrology question. The n size is quite small for seniors, but overall there is a strong trend of increasing awareness that astrology is not scientific as students pass through the university, regardless of major. Only 5 students did not report their class standing, and are not included in this graph.

FIG.3 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.4
The relationship between overall science literacy scores (out of 15 questions) and responses to the forced-choice astrology question. The number of responses has been normalized for clarity.

FIG.4 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.5
Responses to statements concerning science and pseudoscience beliefs. The astrology question is also displayed for purposes of comparison.

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Tables

Table I. Correct responses by major. Students majoring in the sciences perform notably better than students in other colleges, although still only half of science students state that astrology is “not at all“ scientific. Over 80% of our future doctors and nurses, teachers, and business people believe that astrology is very or sort of scientific.

View Table
Table II. Percentage of students responding to the statements about pseudoscience and the paranormal.

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