Consider the Forer effect, named for the psychologist Bertram Forer, who asked some students to complete a personality test, then gave them individual personality profiles based on the results and asked how well the test captured their individual personalities. People were impressed by the test, giving it an average rating of 4.2 out of 5—which was remarkable because Forer had actually taken vague statements like “you have a great need for people to like and admire you” from a book on astrology, assembled them into a profile, and given the same profile to everyone.11 Vague language is elastic
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