People high on authoritarianism tend to have blind allegiance to conventional beliefs about right and wrong and have high respect for acknowledged authorities. In short, Adorno believed that вЂњastrological ideologyвЂќ resembles вЂњthe mentality of the authoritarian personalityвЂќ. As some researchers put it: вЂњTake things as they are, since you are fated for them anywayвЂќ. For Adorno, astrology emphasised conformity and deference to higher authority of some kind. What is particularly interesting, though, is the connection drawn between astrology with authoritarianism, fascism and modern capitalism (remember that this was in the aftermath of WWII and the Holocaust). He is witheringly critical of astrology, dubbing it, with the rest of occultism, a вЂњmetaphysic of duncesвЂќ, suggesting вЂњa climate of semi-erudition is the fertile breeding ground for astrologyвЂќ. In 1952, Adorno carried out a study of a Los Angeles Times astrology column. The most interesting result, however, is based on an idea proposed more than 50 years ago by the German sociologist Theodore Adorno. Those who believe in God or a вЂњspirit of some kindвЂќ are also more likely to find astrology a scientifically credible activity. In line with previous studies, women are more likely than men to think astrology is scientific, regardless of their level of education and knowledge about science.

When taking a wide range of other factors into account, those who have a university degree and who score highly on a quiz tapping scientific knowledge are less likely to think that astrology is scientific. If one does not have an adequate understanding, it might be difficult to distinguish between science and pseudoscience. The first explanation I looked at was peopleвЂ™s level of education and their knowledge about science. In the same study, I was interested to look at other explanations for why some Europeans think astrology is scientific and others do not. This points to semantic confusion about these terms among the general public.

Using a statistical technique known as regression analysis, I discovered, after adjusting for age, gender and education, that people who were particularly likely to think that astronomy was very scientific were also very likely to think the same about astrology. My survey also asked people how scientific they believed various activities to be. Even well-respected national newspapers have been known to make this mistake. In research I carried out a few years ago, I tested the hypothesis that people get confused between astrology and astronomy, and it is this that could account for widespread apparent belief in the scientific status of astrology. And a similar proportion thinks the same across the European Union as a whole. From the Wellcome Trust Monitor survey, we know that less than 10% think horoscopes are вЂњveryвЂќ or вЂњquiteвЂќ scientific. Reassuringly, it turns out that the number of people in Britain who think that horoscopes are scientific is small. Some may make rash financial decisions based on predicted good fortune. For instance, people may decide for or against a potential marriage partner based on astrological sign. It should then be a cause for concern if citizens make important life decisions based on entirely unreliable astrological predictions. There is no evidence to support such claims. A surprisingly large quantity of scientific research has been carried out to evaluate the claims of astrology over the past 40 years. But some people attach scientific credence to astrological predictions and regard astrology as a valid way of understanding human behaviour. Undoubtedly many people read their horoscopes just for entertainment value, or as a topic for conversation.

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