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Would you be surprised if I told you that more Americans know their astrological signs than their blood type? That’s what a Quest Diagnostics survey found in 2023. According to their findings, 66 percent of Americans knew their horoscope sign, while only 58 percent knew their blood type (which declined to 47 percent of Millennials and 32 percent of those in Gen Z). Edwards et al. (2025) cited this unfortunate statistic in their recent research that claimed people with less education and intelligence had greater belief in astrology. Moreover, they found that women and people of color were more likely to be in this camp. But there were limitations to that study, so let’s explore them and shed some light on why astrology maintains its popularity despite its lack of scientific validity.
The Survey
To understand the limitations of Edwards et al.’s (2025) findings that lower intelligence and less education predicted a greater belief in astrology requires an understanding of how the research was conducted. A survey of 8,553 US adults asked, “Do you believe astrology is scientific?” The available answers were not at all scientific, sort of scientific, and very scientific. 63.5 percent answered not at all scientific, 29.8 percent chose sort of scientific, and 6.7 percent selected very scientific.
As you might guess, the 63.5% majority of respondents who stated astrology is not at all scientific had higher education levels and intelligence scores, while people with less education and lower intelligence scores (and who happened to represent more of the women and people of color in the cohort) gave more scientific merit to astrology.
The researchers acknowledged that the wording of the survey does not measure belief in astrology and also stated that people may not have known what astrology was and/or may have confused it with astronomy.
Perhaps one of the biggest limitations of this study, and general astrological research conducted to date, is a lack of understanding of the complexity of the systems being studied. It is akin to the Alchemist’s Fantasy, or the desire for a simple or singular solution to address complex psychological phenomena. So asking if people believe astrology is scientific or not misses the psychological complexity of astrology’s appeal—and the complexity of astrology itself.
The trouble isn’t with scientific inquiry itself; science can and does investigate meaning, myth, and connection in powerful ways. The challenge is that not all research methods are designed to capture the deeper psychological or cultural forces at play. In this case, a simple survey may miss the richness of why astrology remains so resonant for so many people.
Astrology’s Deeper Meanings
Humans are meaning-making and pattern-seeking beings. For centuries, humans have looked to the stars and found constellations that appeared in different seasons. Human beings navigated the stars and designed homes and communities around the stars. (Even Washington D.C. is said to have been designed to mimic the Virgo constellation.) Humans anticipated weather changes, global events, and some continue to celebrate the story of the three wise men who followed a north star to the location where a baby was born in a manger in Bethlehem.
From a psychological perspective, horoscopes provide a mirror of myth, archetypes, and meaning that can transform the ordinary into the superordinary, the mundane into the sublime, and feed the need for inquiry, exploration, openness, and even empathy.
Just as the Myers-Briggs test, which has been scientifically disproven but is still in use at many institutions, astrology helps people to feel understood and to understand others. Astrology does perpetuate its own biases, as many people strive to have their baby born under the year of the Dragon (and some employers even seek out such fortunately born workers). Still others overly identify with their sign by saying things like, “I’m a Taurus, so I’m stubborn” or “I’m a Leo and won’t tolerate that behavior.” Or they categorize others: “They are a Virgo and so organized.” Such influences (biased, scientific or not) seep into group behavior and leave a complex impression on our own actions and beliefs—unconscious or not.
Everyone wants archetypes, a story, and connection. They give life meaning, color, and dimension. So, the next time someone asks you your sign, instead of dismissing them as unintelligent, seek it as an opportunity to connect. You might just learn something new.
