Editing Barnum effect (section)

== Factors influencing the effect==
Two factors are important in producing the Forer effect, according to the findings of replication studies. 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 honesty of the person providing feedback.<ref name="Claridge 2008 436–444">{{cite journal|last=Claridge|first=G.|author2=Clark, K. |author3=Powney, E. |author4=Hassan, E. |title=Schizotypy and the Barnum effect|journal=Personality and Individual Differences|date=2008|volume=44|issue=2|pages=436–444 |doi=10.1016/j.paid.2007.09.006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2012|first=Brett|last=Rutledge|title=Something for Everyone – The Barnum Effect|url=http://thearticulateceo.typepad.com/my-blog/2012/01/something-for-everyone-the-barnum-effect.html|publisher=The Articulate CEO|access-date=November 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130612010845/http://thearticulateceo.typepad.com/my-blog/2012/01/something-for-everyone-the-barnum-effect.html|archive-date=June 12, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The effect is consistently found when the assessment statements are 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 include the phrase "at times", such as "At times you feel very sure of yourself, while at other times you are not as confident." This phrase can apply to almost anyone, and thus each person can read a "personal" meaning into it. Keeping statements vague in this manner ensures observing the Forer effect in replication studies.<ref name="Krauss-Whitbourne">{{cite magazine |last=Krauss-Whitbourne |first=Susan |title=When it comes to personality tests, skepticism is a good thing |url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201008/when-it-comes-personality-tests-dose-skepticism-is-good-thing |magazine=Psychology Today |access-date=November 25, 2012 |date=August 10, 2010}}</ref>

Individuals are more likely to accept negative assessments of themselves if they perceive the persons presenting the assessments as high-status professionals. Evidence also suggests that people with authoritarian or neurotic personalities or who have a greater than usual need for approval are more likely to manifest the Barnum effect.<ref name="Psychology Today"/>

Later studies have found that subjects give higher accuracy ratings if the following are true:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dickson |first1=D. H. |last2=Kelly |first2=I. W. |date=1985 |title=The 'Barnum Effect' in Personality Assessment: A Review of the Literature |journal=Psychological Reports |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=367–382 |doi=10.2466/pr0.1985.57.2.367 |s2cid=145434649 }}</ref>
* The subject believes that the analysis is personalized, and thus applies personal meaning to the statements.<ref name="Krauss-Whitbourne" />
* The subject believes in the authority of the evaluator.
* The analysis lists mainly positive traits.