Repeating The Study
Two factors are important in ensuring that the study is replicable. The content of the description offered is important, with specific emphasis on the ratio of positive to negative trait assessments. The other important factor is that the subject trusts the person who is giving feedback to give them feedback based on honest and subjective assessment.
The effect is so consistent because the statements are so vague. People are able to read their own meaning into the statements they receive, and thus, the statement becomes "personal" to them. The most effective statements contain statements based around the phrase: "at times." Such as: "At times you feel very sure of your self, while at other times you are not as confident." This phrase can apply to almost anybody, and thus each person can read their own meaning into it. Keeping statements vague in this manner will ensure high rates of reliability when repeating the study.
Read more about this topic: Forer Effect
Famous quotes containing the words repeating the, repeating and/or study:
“There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before; like the larks in this country, that have been singing the same five notes over for thousands of years.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“We can best help you to prevent war not by repeating your words and following your methods but by finding new words and creating new methods.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“Gloom and solemnity are entirely out of place in even the most rigorous study of an art originally intended to make glad the heart of man.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)