For some reason, pseudoscientific bunk like astrology, psychics, and Spirit Science, influence a king’s ransom of people worldwide. Hell, astrology actually seems to be increasing in popularity. Americans spend millions of dollars every year on this bullshit and take it very seriously (I once had a girl decide not to date me because I was a Cancer).
Even Ronald and Nancy Reagan consulted an astrologer when it came to scheduling events — a sitting president bought this crap!
According to a study conducted by the National Science Foundation, the number of Americans who toss astrology in the same wastebasket with 1-900 number psychics is decreasing. Skepticism regarding the compatibility of Scorpio’s and Capricorn’s fell from 66 percent in 2004 to 55 percent in 2012, the last year data was available.
Imagine my surprise when scientists started discovering a correlation between the season in which someone was born and certain parts of their personality. Even though the findings have nothing to do with astrological signs and star placements and cusps and other crap like that, when you are born may actually be influential in the development of certain aspects of your personality.
1. Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder appear to be more common in people born during the winter and early-spring months.
Researchers are still trying to unravel the mysteries of personality disorders, with emphasis on schizophrenia and manic-depression. A 2012 study by Queen Mary University in London yielded an interesting find. While examining the health records of 29 million people in England, researchers realized that of the 58,000 diagnosed schizophrenics whose records were in the study, January was the most common birth month. February and March birthdays were also over-represented.
The Queen Mary University study is corroborated by an earlier study from Finland.
2. Springtime births seem to yield more suicidal people.
Researchers from University College London, St. Helen’s College and the University of Liverpool poured over the data from 27,000 suicides in England and Wales between 1970 and 2001, finding a 17 percent increase in risk of suicide for people born in the spring and early-summer compared to those born in autumn and early-winter.
Because there are a multitude of other factors that contribute to suicides, researchers have acknowledged that their findings are merely one piece of a large puzzle.
3. Dyslexia appears to be more common in people born during the summer.
In a study of 585 boys and young men with dyslexia, summer births were over-represented. Another 1994 study found that “specifically more dyslexics were born during May, June, and July than any other period of the year.”
4. People born from December to February seem to be less agreeable.
Agreeableness is defined as a measure of the extent of a person’s warmth and kindness. The more agreeable someone is, the more trusting, helpful, and compassionate they are. Researchers at the University of Tokyo found that people born from December to February trended lower in agreeableness than those born at other points throughout the year.
Keep in mind, this is a single study. There could be cultural factors at play in the results.
5. Men born during the summer appear to be less conscientious.
Conscientious people are defined as individuals with a strong sense organization and duty — dependable, disciplined, and achievement-focused.
Researchers from the University of Bologna found, by using data from 419 men and women, that males, via gender comparison, were more conscientious than females and that males born during the summer months were less conscientious than their peers born at other points in the year.
Again, this is a single study.
6. People born in the summer are moody.
Researchers from Hungary found that “cyclothymic temperament,” rapid and frequent swings between sad and cheerful moods, was significantly higher in people born during the summer months compared to those born during the winter months. These results were presented to the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology and were based on the self-assessments of 366 university students.
Well, damn. Even though astrology ads belong on Backpage.com with advertisements from huckster psychics and escort services, evidence exists that seems to implicate seasons as having an influence on personality traits.
I don’t know if I’m at a point where I’m convinced that people born in the summer are at a higher risk of being moody dyslexics, but I see legitimacy in further examining the possibility — at least more so than sitting on the phone with tarot-reading psychics charging me $2.99 per minute.
