If you can’t start your day without checking your daily horoscope, take heed. A new study shows that when people read their horoscope and it predicts that they will have a bad day, they are more likely to take part in self-indulgent activities, such as eating ice cream.
The study, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, also claimed that a belief in fate led to more erratic decision-making.
The study was conduced by scientists at Johns Hopkins University and the University of South Carolina. Study participants were shown an unfavorable horoscope and were then given the choice of either doing something productive such as cleaning the kitchen or doing something considered self-indulgent such as eating chocolate.
More people chose the self-indulgent behavior even though the researchers had expected more people to choose the productive behavior in an attempt to ward off fate.
So the question is, was the horoscope accurate in predicting the bad day or did the person read the horoscope and bring on the bad day because he or she bought into the horoscope?
