類別 : 英文寫作類. 篇名 : Do the stars really affect our personalities? 作者 : 陳韵雯國立溪湖高中高一 1 班楊雅淳國立溪湖高中高一 1 班蔡孟軒國立溪湖高中高一 1 班指導老師 : 蕭建華老師

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1 類別 : 英文寫作類篇名 : Do the stars really affect our personalities? 作者 : 陳韵雯國立溪湖高中高一 1 班楊雅淳國立溪湖高中高一 1 班蔡孟軒國立溪湖高中高一 1 班指導老師 : 蕭建華老師

2 I. Introduction When it comes to personalities, various factors impacts on personal traits. However, a great number of theories indicate that Zodiacs has a great influence on our personalities. Does Zodiacs really have something to do with our personalities? It s what we are eager to discuss. Recently, people are likely to get plenty of information on astrology from books, TV programs, the Internet, or the media. They always make a judgment on others, based on their signs of Zodiac. Is Zodiacs reliable? If not, how can astrology remain popular for thousands of years? Are we born and doomed to be the person as the Zodiacs said? Or is it the Zodiacs in the books that affect our personalities day by day via reading? This study was conducted under these motivations. To clarify the connection between Zodiac and personalities, this study reviewed related literature and conducted a questionnaire for later discussion. II. Literature Review II.1. Constellation II.1.1. The origin of constellation About 5,000 years ago, there lived some GAL-Asian people in Mesopotamia. They grazed the sheep during the day and observed the stars at night. The alignment of the stars in peculiar sequences gradually became human and animals in their mind. Constellation was spread to Greece by Phoenicians in lots of trades (Magical zodiacs, 1998). Many tales of Greek mythology were born this way. These mythological figures are what now come into our mind at night. II.1.2. The definitions of Constellations and how to denominate Constellations A group of fixed stars nearby others and composed of varieties of pictures are the so-called Constellation. Though there is only one celestial body, the imagination of human is infinite. Each celestial body is thought of as different meanings in ancient cultures. Take Big Dipper for example. England people imagined it as the farming tools, while Chinese people imagined it as a spoon, and Ancient Greece viewed as a bear s tail (Wikipedia, 2006). To solve all of the problems, International 1

3 Astronomical Union make a decision, precisely categorized them into eighty-eight kinds of Constellation. This categorization makes each of the fixed stars in the sky own their own Constellation. II.1.3. Constellation s influence and application In the past, Constellation played an important role in their life. Take navigation and cultivation for example. They considerably depended on Constellation. Although we have GPS in modern life, Constellation isn't forgotten by people. Besides, Constellation is applied to fate forecasts as well. Newspapers and TV programs talk about it and many people refer to it in our daily life. But are these forecasts reliable? Are the opinions and suggestions toward certain zodiacs influential to your daily life? If yes, this influence good or bad? Why do common people allow it to affect them so deeply in their daily lives? The purpose of this study is to clarify if the constellation can truly determine a person s personality and daily luck, or if people are made to believe it. II.2. Relations between constellation and personality II.2.1. Stereotype, prejudice, & self- reflection It is interesting that most people think Constellation and personality have many in common. Therefore, Constellation brings about the booming business in divination. And the products of divination emerge in an endless stream. In turn, people who are imperceptibly influenced by what they see and hear out of divination have a deep faith in the power of constellation. Gradually, people get used to applying it to determine a person s personality. However, The stereotype about Constellations could lead to discriminations... In fact, the superstitious beliefs have caused prejudice toward certain Constellations. For example. Gemini is tagged as being playful, not single-minded (Wu, 2011). On the other hand, stereotypes may not be totally rumors. When a person is tired of the irrational criticism from people around him, it is better to reflect upon himself and see why his behavior is so convinced that people would rather believe what the constellational divination said. II.2.2. Paradoxes According to scientific explanation, the only relationship between Constellation 2

4 and humans gravity is. However, the distance is so far away that the gravity is too tiny to affect human beings body on Earth, not to mention their personalities. If it were true that Constellation can affect a person's personality, the natural rules in physics textbooks would be overthrown. Thus, it is irrational to relate Constellation with personality forecasts. Moreover, Constellation derives from myth stories, which is not scientific at all. Since each person s trait of Constellation is based on that of mythological figures, it can be inferred that divination forecast on personalities is not convincible. For example, Leo refers to a lion, the king of beasts, and thus owns the qualities of a lion, while Virgo describes the qualities of a sensitive and cautious girl. Is it possible that all the Leos are good leaders while all the male Virgos are as sensitive and cautious as a female? This is irrational, too. II.2.3. Gender & Educational Differences According to surveys, both gender and educational level are critical to Constellational belief (Surdin, 2012). It is indicated that females believe in Constellation more than males. Besides, people of more social experiences in natural science less believe in Constellation (Table 1). Do these results impact on personal interactions and social relationships? Table 1 Gender & Age Differences in Constellational Faiths Attitude toward astrology Ages 18 to 24 All Men Women Believe 38% 22% 18% 26% Do not believe 55% 69% 73% 64% Undecided 7% 9% 9% 10% Know their zodiac sign 96% 76% 69% 83% Regularly read horoscopes 26% 23% 16% 29% Note. All age groups above 18 II.3. Commercialization & Fuller Effect According to Sun (1998), Constellation used to occupy only two pages in female magazines, published once a month. However, nowadays Constellation magazines are published every week. One convenience store clerk reported that the Constellation magazines are sold out in less than two days. This phenomenon shows 3

5 that Constellation is successfully commercialized, and that more and more people have deeper reliance on Constellation divination. Is Constellation divination so accurate that it turns superstition into faith? One good explanation is Fuller Effect. Fuller Effect explains that when people confront a blurred depiction, they tend to retain what they agreed with and skip those disagreeable data (Forer, 1948). III. Methodology III.1. Questionnaire & Subjects To evidence whether modern people rely on Constellation for personality judgment, a questionnaire was invented. The contents of this questionnaire are based on the data in Baidu's encyclopedia. With reference to it, this study selects out certain personal traits of each Constellation which can best depict the Constellation. Then, the list of personal traits was checked by both teacher and students in a senior high school. Both the teachers and students were randomly sampled. They were asked to check one personal trait that best represents each Constellation. The results are listed in Table 2. Table 2 Personal Trait of Each Constellation recognized both by teachers and by Students Aries I am involved in new things and fond of taking adventure. Taurus I like to lead a stable life instead of a movable life. Gemini I believe that I am intelligent and excellent at logic. Cancer I often recall the wonderful days in the past. Leo I am kind and calm and think twice before doing anything. Virgo I pay attention to tiny things. Libra I am easy-going and obedient. Scorpio I prefer friends who absolutely understand me. Sagittarius I am optimistic. Capricorn I have more patience and perseverance than others. Aquarius I focus on the spiritual development and pay little attention to my desire. Pisces I am able to be in people s shoes and cope with the difficulty they confront. III.2. Statistics 4

6 Do Stars Really affect our personalities? The twelve descriptions (see Table 2) were made into the twelve items in the questionnaire (see Figure 1). Each item includes four options, and the corresponded grades are listed as follows: strongly agree (four points), agree (three points), disagree (two points), and strongly disagree (one point). The sum of each item was divided by the toll of subjects. Male Female Birthday Dear All, We are students in Class101. We want to do a research on personality traits. We need you to help fill out the questionnaire. The questionnaire is used for research analysis only. We won t reveal your personal information to others. So, be patient to check the answers. Thanks for your help. Content Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly Agree Disagree 1. I am involved in new things and fond of taking adventure. 2. I like to lead a stable life instead of a changeable life. 3. I believe that I am intelligent and excellent at logic. 4. I often recall the wonderful days in the past. 5. I am kind and calm and think twice before doing anything. 6. I pay attention to tiny things. 7. I am easy-going and obedient. 8. I prefer friends who absolutely understand me. 9. I am optimistic. 10. I have more patience and perseverance than others. 11. I focus on the spiritual development and pay little attention to my desire. 12. I am able to be in people s shoes and cope with the difficulty they confront. Figure 1. Questionnaire of this study. 5

7 IV. Results & Discussion In this study, there were 437 effective questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed to see (a) if the statement for a certain horoscope is generalized for any horoscope, and (b) if the statement toward a certain horoscope is recognized by the subjects born at that duration of time. The results of the data analyzed are listed in Table 3. Table 3 Average Scores toward Each Item by Different Horoscope Groups Item Ari. Tau. Gmi. Can. Leo Vir. Lib. Sco. Sag. Cap. Aqu. Pis. Ave Note. Item1~Irem12 refers to Q1 to Q12 in the questionnaire. This study showed very interesting results. First, all subjects, whatever their horoscope is, showed quite similar responses toward each item. Second, none of a certain horoscope group strongly agrees or disagrees with their depicted personal trait. Instead, each horoscope group averagely identified themselves with their depicted trait. Take Item 1 for example. Not knowing the item depicting the personal trait of Aries, all the subjects from each horoscope responded to it similarly (see Table 3). All of them identify themselves as being fond of novelty and adventures. Besides, the Aries also agree with this statement as Aries personal traits. Therefore, it can be concluded that (a) this statement is fairly generalized, for people of all horoscopes hold similar attitudes toward it, and (b) averagely the Aries do recognized themselves as curious and adventurous. Such deduction could also be made toward the other 6

8 items and horoscopes. V. Conclusion In this study, we found that Constellation and personality isn t positively nor negatively correlated. It is the generalized depiction that suits most of the people and makes Zodiacs paradoxical and convincible. Plus the spread of information via magazines and newspaper, constellation is keeping popular. Maybe the existence of Constellation doesn t lie in its accuracy, but in its social functions. It is a topic that connects people s relationships. Therefore, it is suggested to view Constellations with a more relaxing perspective. IV. References Baidu Encyclopedia. (2008). Zodiac. Retrieved from October 22 nd, 2012, at Forer, Bertram. (1948). Zodiac and blood type bring the harm: it causes new discrimination. Guang Zhou Daily Paper, August 1 st, 2011 Sun, Hsiu-hui. (1998). Soul Vitamins. Yuan Jian Magazine, July Surdin, Vladimir. (2012). Why is astrology a pseudoscience? Retrieved from Wikipedia. (2006). Constellation. Retrieved from October 20 th, 2012, at Wu, Chun-yi. (2011). The blood type and zodiac are only interesting, not about personality. Superstitions belief makes people innocent. Guang Zhou Daily Paper, July 30 th, 2011 星座研究會編 (1998), 十二星座魔法書台中市 : 智學有出版社 7

投稿類別 : 英文寫作類. 篇名 : Fashion Trend - The Star Signs 作者 : 丁虹國立草屯高級商工職業學校應用外語科三年一班林藝芳國立草屯高級商工職業學校應用外語科三年一班陳亭瑋國立草屯高級商工職業學校應用外語科三年一班指導老師 : 廖慧雯老師

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類別 : 英文寫作類. 篇名 : Do the stars really affect our personalities? 作者 : 陳韵雯 國立溪湖高中 高一 1 班楊雅淳 國立溪湖高中 高一 1 班蔡孟軒 國立溪湖高中 高一 1 班 指導老師 : 蕭建華老師

類別 : 英文寫作類. 篇名 : Do the stars really affect our personalities? 作者 : 陳韵雯國立溪湖高中高一 1 班楊雅淳國立溪湖高中高一 1 班蔡孟軒國立溪湖高中高一 1 班指導老師 : 蕭建華老師