The Barnum effect in couples: effects of intimacy, involvement, and sex on acceptance of generalized personality feedback.

The study assessed the impact of test feedback about one partner on both members of male-female couples. Twenty-four males and 24 females ("participants") took an inkblot test and received a standard personality interpretation-purportedly derived from the test-in the presence of a partner (the "observer"). Half the pairs were strangers; the other half defined themselves as intimate friends. Intimate couples rated the feedback as more accurate, remembered more of the feedback, reported more faith in psychological tests, and rated experimenter skill higher than did strangers. Male participants rated the feedback as more accurate than did male observers. Males may be more receptive of feedback in couples when they themselves have taken the test.