Barnum Effect
The Forer effect is more frequently referred to as "The Barnum Effect". This term was coined in 1956 by American psychologist Paul Meehl in his essay, "Wanted - A Good Cookbook". He relates the vague personality descriptions used in certain "pseudo-successful" psychological tests to those given by entertainer and businessman P.T. Barnum, who was a notorious hoaxer.
Read more about this topic: Forer Effect, Origin of Term
Famous quotes containing the words barnum and/or effect:
“It’s a Barnum and Bailey world,
Just as phony as it can be.”
—E.Y. Harburg (1898–1981)
“Nothing could his enemies do but it rebounded to his infinite advantage,—that is, to the advantage of his cause.... No theatrical manager could have arranged things so wisely to give effect to his behavior and words. And who, think you, was the manager? Who placed the slave-woman and her child, whom he stooped to kiss for a symbol, between his prison and the gallows?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)