Why are women more likely to believe in star signs / psychics / paranormal?

Mr_Smoogs · 2018-10-31T15:37:36+00:00

I worked an event last night where I read people's natal charts for three hours (halloween fun) - I'm well-versed in the 'language' because I used to sell natal chart readings for $30 a pop. How very capricorn of me.

Genuine answer, as one of Those Women: it's fun, other people know varying amounts about it, being able to speak fluently in astrology is as useful for communicating with other women as knowing about baseball statistics is for communicating with men. A certain subset of people just like to talk about/know about that kind of stuff, and if you can whip it out as a party trick, you can convey information about yourself through symbols that otherwise you could not have conveyed so efficiently.

Like MBTI, I can say 'I'm an [XXXX]' and someone who knows MBTI basics knows I'm saying 'I think I'm like [XXXX]' - it gives them something to interpret about me, to decide both whether the label fits and whether my judgement in assigning such labels, and other labels, is sound.

Someone who has read a lot about astrology can gain the same information about me if I say 'Oh, I'm a capricorn sun, moon, mercury, and venus' and based on any accompanying assessment I provide, they can get a sense of my level of self-knowledge, trustworthiness in interpreting information, or whether I'm the kind of person who'll mouth off about anything without knowing so much as the fundamentals.

It's fun to share a fiction. People talk about Game of Thrones between each other, their theories about something that legitimately doesn't exist, because it helps them connect on a human level, shared desires, shared likes or dislikes or feelings. 'I hate Sansa and I love Dany' might as well be 'I'm an aquarius sun but a scorpio rising' in terms of the information it conveys to an in-group. Some, but not many, people get really into it and start basing their whole identity on their Game of Thrones stances. The same is true of astrology; for the less nutty practitioners, it also serves as a standpoint to begin interrogating one's personal qualities - it's a shared fiction with a goal, which is to understand the self, and to efficiently share that understanding with others. Some people would say that's why they like [favorite fiction series] so much - Terry Goodkind's/Ayn Rand's/Terry Pratchett's/Neil Gaiman's/JK Rowling's writing helps me understand myself!

I'd guess that the proportion of women who are nutty about astrology/tarot/whatever is about the same as the proportion of men who are nutty about sports, politics, fiction/media... some people are just nutty, and I can charge some of those people $30 for twenty minutes of looking at star charts, but some of those people fork over the same or more cash for a costume or a book of lore or a trip to New Zealand to see the Fake Shire. People are just Like That.

HostileErectile · 2018-10-31T14:49:05+00:00

As at as I've read, men and women are in generally equally as superstitious. Men just believe more in political conspiracy theories and aliens while women believe is star signs and spirituality.

philomexa · 2018-10-31T16:34:48+00:00

Cause that shit is fun fluffy symbolism to express yourself and relate to others that speak the same "language".

When I was a young I was really into astrology and tarot cards. However I'm the daughter of an engineer from a very atheist, science first household. I knew it wasn't real, but it was good fun for my friends and I to pour over astrology charts and speculate about our real life interpersonal dynamics and how they relate to this arcane symbology that was kind of spooky and esoteric. Brad is a Pisces so I don't think his relationship with Sharon will last cause she's a Libra. Mercury will be in retrograde soon so maybe they'll break up before the autumn dance and he'll ask you instead because your star signs will be passing through the 5th house by then!

None of that means anything, but to young girls bonding and trying to figure out life and boys and what all of this means its an understood "roadmap" with peer accessible groupthink.

ETA: I've always found it interesting that even though I have a hard time socializing or relating to women, if I say something like "so-and-so is such a Capricorn" there is instant rapport regardless of age, race, or socioeconomics. Religious women, atheist women, butch, femme, foreign, white bread, it doesn't matter they know what I'm talking about in a weird sub metacontextual space.

sketch162000 · 2018-10-31T15:01:34+00:00

Women are also generally more likely to be religious.

I'd imagine it has something to do with logic vs. emotion, individuality vs. community, and agency vs. powerlessness.

Men trend towards the former, while women and faith trend towards the latter.

SmurfESmurferson · 2018-10-31T14:20:23+00:00

It's New Age religion, so certain types of gals can claim to be "spiritual, not religious." Avoid the topic, also avoid any mention of crystals/essential oils/anti-vacc types, and move the conversation back to sane territory

In other words, they can avoid any sort of responsibility for their actions, and blame it on some greater power in the universe. Also applicable: two of my friends who can be (but aren't always, hence the somewhat-grudging "friends" label) genuine assholes, but hide behind the "introvert" label. My other introvert friends go off an recharge quietly, these two blame introversion for insulting people to their face

CombatStacey · 2018-10-31T20:23:27+00:00

Why are women more likely to believe in star signs and psychics (when it comes to dating and compatibility?

Social conditioning and excess of protection against criticism.

Women are more linked to social conditioning than physical reality, aka, compared to men, they care more about the society she is in works than how the world works. That is why ideologies, religions and social happenings take more hold in women than men.and things like gossiping and ostracizing looks like hell to them.

Women also live a life of protection, they are protected to everything, hunger, cold, work, (in the 3rd world, freedom), and most important, criticism... thus they do not learn to rethink what they think they know, and thus lack the cynicism most men have... Thus, beliefs without any basis like some ideologies, religions and cults take a hold of them hard.

KeffirLime · 2018-10-31T13:48:02+00:00

Women act more on their emotions and less on their logic than men.

It's why they make far better customers..

atheist_terry_ascend · 2018-10-31T16:51:20+00:00

Cause women love being followers and being told they’re special

SAC-Lawn_Gnome · 2018-10-31T13:32:19+00:00

Because women are less punished for having abnormal beliefs and acting abnormally. A guy with similar beliefs would face much greater persecution.

KerPop42 · 2018-10-31T14:32:03+00:00

Because women are more likely to grasp the idea of "fun"

[deleted] · 2018-10-31T14:35:00+00:00

Q4All: Why are women more likely to believe in star signs and psychics (when it comes to dating and compatibility)?

Because they're such slaves to their attraction they cant even break down why they want anyone

abaxeron · 2018-10-31T22:53:44+00:00

I think the better question is, reasonably assuming that we all start as impressionable and gullible children, why so many men outgrow believing in everything that feels good, even when they're in a relative social and intellectual bottom, and why so many women keep believing in this stuff even after growing up in UMC and graduating in psychology.

My reductionist response is simply "women can afford it".

DaphneDK42 · 2018-10-31T23:59:22+00:00

Women are in general more religious than men. Probably because men tend to be autistic killjoys.

Mr_Smoogs · 2018-10-31T16:16:49+00:00

Why are men more likely to play dress up and make believe well into adulthood?

People get their kicks in all kinds of bizarre ways.

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Mr_White119811 · 2018-10-31T16:51:19+00:00

Why are women more likely to believe in star signs and psychics (when it comes to dating and compatibility)?

Why is that bad thing. chick Crack works wonders.

I have read books on Astrology and developed an interest in it. Its great stuff for dating.

TheBookOfSeil · 2018-10-31T20:49:32+00:00

Probably because women have multiple voices in their heads all telling them different things, which might be why they can’t decide what restaurant they want to go to, and might also explain the confusion/mixed signals surrounding what they say that they want in general.

Edit: Star signs and psychics aren’t too far off from this.

methscfarlane · 2018-11-01T05:32:52+00:00

Because magic appeals to the mind of a child

AloneOnTheStrange · 2018-11-01T11:42:32+00:00

Because for men being right matters a lot more. We're the breadwinners, we have the burden to succeed in life. We know that the best way to do this is to be coldly logical and rational. We do that so much that we can't just switch that off to believe that stars and angels are controlling our destiny.

There's also the obvious fact that we don't get positive reinforcement because of our gender alone. How many guys will pretend to agree with a girl about palm reading or some bullshit just so he can get into her pants?

Gravel_Roads · 2018-11-01T23:03:27+00:00

For casual observers, it’s a way of exploring rituals, practicing recognizing features of personality and reality from a more neutral perspective and navigating archetypes of personality. Dealing with a person that is really particular, highly organized, but a little controlling can be hard, but if you think of it as “dealing with a Virgo personality type”, then there’s tomes of literature you can utilize, especially if you know what your own personality type is.

It’s a lot like RP, honestly. A lot of it’s hyperbolic or overtly impractical, but a topic study of it can help some personality types gain a more nuanced way in which personalities interact. (Furries are similar.)

[deleted] · 2018-11-02T11:19:07+00:00

Women are more normative. Normal people need to believe in dumb shit like this.

CuddleLumpkin · 2018-11-03T21:46:55+00:00

Because those things usually have to do with feminine interests: relationships, love, and whatnot.

When men buy into nonsense we call them conspiracy theorists and/or men of faith, so think about that all you replying with “herr derr because womens are dumb.”

goatismycopilot · 2018-10-31T17:18:39+00:00

To me it is no different from adherering to a specific religion. Humans want to think what they do has meaning they want to believe there is a big mommy or daddy in the sky who is rooting for them and religious ceremonies can be meaningful and people can gain a sense of belonging and community. How different is it from religious people thinking God is going to send them a spouse? None of that is going to happen. Smoogs can be relied upon to find the most ridiculous shit and then extrapolate it to stuff women do or say.

Men who work in offices dress up like civil war reenactors wear "authentic" clothing and grow beards and wear scratchy wool as if that is going to simulate being on an actual battlefield during said time. I do not get it but they enjoy doing it.

Title	Why are women more likely to believe in star signs / psychics / paranormal?
Author	Mr_Smoogs
Upvotes	7
Comments	113
Date	October 31, 2018 1:30 PM UTC (7 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/9syqnv/why_are_women_more_likely_to_believe_in_star/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/why-are-women-more-likely-to-believe-in-star-signs.259231 https://theredarchive.com/post/259231

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