Good day for Leos: Horoscope’s influence on perception, cognitive performances, and creativity.

Do people treat horoscopes as mere entertainment, or does reading horoscopes have more substantial consequences? Based on previous research showing the effects of expectations as well as on literature highlighting the influence of astrology on individuals, we hypothesized that reading positive versus negative horoscopes may affect people’s perceptions, emotions, cognitions, and creativity. Across three experiments, reading positive versus negative astrological forecasts increased positive interpretation of ambiguous events (Experiment 1, N = 195), cognitive performance (Experiment 2, N = 189), and creativity (Experiment 3, N = 193). Furthermore, positive (versus negative) horoscopes decreased negative emotions among people who believe in astrology and the effects of horoscopes on cognitive performances and creativity were stronger among people with a low internal locus of control. Opening newspapers and searching for daily horoscopes have more consequences than one may initially think, given the current demonstration that horoscopes influence people’s perceptions and cognitive performances.