Mar 25 (News On Japan) - "My horoscope tells me about my strengths and weaknesses, the best and worst parts of my personality, how my day is going, and who I am most connected with... it can even help me make smart decisions, like whether to date Todd."
Jesse, a high school student in the U.S., was introducing an astrology app on her iPhone to her classmate, Sarah. They had initially planned to do homework in the restaurant, with chemistry and math books on the table, but Jesse pushed them aside.
"You should try it sometime; it’s completely harmless," Jesse said.
Jesse is far from being an outlier. According to a survey by EduBirdie, 80% of Generation Z (born between the mid-1990s and 2010) in the U.S. "believe in astrology." Of them, 58% check their horoscope at least once a week, 72% use astrology to make significant life decisions, and 42% admit to over-relying on it. What's more concerning, 31% of young Americans say they would not date someone whose zodiac sign clashes with theirs; 21% of young Americans admit they have been dumped because of incompatible zodiac signs.
On TikTok, searching for "astrology" will lead you to 4.5 million videos.
Scholars in the U.S. are alarmed. In 2004, 66% of Americans thought astrology was nonsense; by 2024, more than 70% of Americans believe in it, with younger people being particularly inclined. In contrast, 92% of Chinese people do not believe in astrology.
Why are Americans becoming more superstitious? Why are young Americans becoming the "superstitious generation"?
The Consequences of Widespread Anxiety
Young Americans turn to superstition because of a sense of inner despair.
The Atlantic reported: "The U.S. is experiencing a severe adolescent mental health crisis. From 2009 to 2021, the percentage of American high school students feeling 'persistent sadness or hopelessness' rose from 26% to 44%. This is the highest recorded level of sadness among American teens."
Statistics show that young Americans are twice as likely to suffer from anxiety and depression compared to other age groups. In the first half of 2021, a survey of nearly 8,000 high school students revealed that more than a quarter of girls had seriously considered suicide. Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University, noted that the incidence of adolescent anxiety and depression has "risen by more than 50% in many studies from 2010 to 2019." From 2007 to 2021, the suicide rate for Americans aged 10 to 24 rose by 62%, with the increase among young girls being especially pronounced.
Psychologist and author Lisa Damour said that part of the reason for adolescent despair is the increasing pressures of the world: "In the past decade, teens have grown more worried about gun violence, climate change, and the political environment. Girls, more than boys, tend to internalize their pain, meaning they are more likely to self-destruct due to depression or anxiety."
Surveys show that Americans aged 60 and above rank among the happiest in the world, while Americans under 30 are ranked 62nd globally. Haidt argues that, as a group, young people's mental health has deteriorated, leading to disastrous consequences—young people with mental health problems are becoming increasingly unwilling to enter the workforce.
A British media outlet sarcastically pointed out: "Adults are helpless regarding Brexit and the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, and now the youth have lost their sense of direction and meaning, developing anxiety. Why is that surprising?"
Avery Morgan, communications officer at EduBirdie, stated: "Why do people believe in astrology? To cope with the chaos of modern life. A survey shows that most millennials and Gen Z are familiar with how to interpret their astrological charts because job insecurity, student debt, housing shortages, and the scarcity of good news are forcing them to seek spiritual comfort."
In other words, facing an increasingly fractured world, with climate change causing global destruction, far-right movements rising to power, and some of history's worst individuals becoming the wealthiest (the net wealth of the world’s billionaires increased by $2 trillion in 2024), who wouldn't want to seek help from the entire galaxy?
Closing One's Eyes to Avoid the Cliff
"I will never date a Pisces again," says Karen Laloch, a Capricorn. Two years ago, when interviewed, she made this statement because her zodiac sign clashes with Pisces.
Laloch, a high school teacher and yoga instructor in Boston, firmly believes that celestial bodies have a direct influence on human life. She explains: "Astrology is a useful introspective tool for those who want to understand themselves more deeply. The best thing we can do is understand ourselves and strive for self-improvement."
Laloch is not naïve; rather, she grew up in a world dominated by the internet, lacking genuine face-to-face interactions. According to The Atlantic, social interaction among U.S. teens aged 15 to 24 has decreased by 35% over the past 20 years, with teens spending nearly six hours a day in front of screens.
American media complain: "Our teens can see the zodiac everywhere, not only on various products but also all over the internet. Apps like Co-Star and Sanctuary allow teens to check their horoscopes with a single tap on the screen."
In 2020, Co-Star had 7.5 million users, but now it has over 30 million.
Bella, an astrology influencer with 1.2 million followers on TikTok, explains: "Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram have made astrology omnipresent. Memes, videos, and short, visually appealing content based on astrology trends deeply resonate with Gen Z."
Astrology is perfect for internet dissemination: brief, direct, personalized, and confidence-boosting.
Psychologist Stephen Bening said, "If you can find a way to understand things that seem chaotic and uncontrollable, it becomes highly attractive." According to a Harris Poll survey, about 70% of Americans "somewhat" or "strongly" believe in astrology, and 61% say astrology provides them with comfort during uncertain times.
Astrology offers a way to "close your eyes and pretend there’s no cliff," but does it really work? For believers, since they feel powerless to control reality, astrology becomes useful, at least offering some mental relief from the overwhelming chaos.
Infantilization: A Bottomless Pit
On the surface, believing in astrology as a form of self-deception may seem harmless, but it is also futile. However, Professor Keith Hayward from the University of Copenhagen warns of a deeper issue in his book Infantilization: How Our Culture Stifles Adulthood. He recounts an example:
An older boss was correcting a young female employee: "The word 'hamster' doesn't have a P."
"But I've always spelled it that way," the 20-something employee countered.
The boss suggested she check the dictionary, and the employee burst into tears, immediately calling her mother to ask her to tell the boss to stop being so mean.
The young employee had evidently internalized the postmodernist view of "relativity of truth," which suggests that what is "correct" is hidden behind power structures and cultural oppression by those in authority. In this view, "1+1" can have three truths: "your truth," "my truth," and "objective truth," with "objective truth" being irrelevant. Postmodernists consider this a "refined way of thinking."
Hayward finds that this attitude—"It doesn’t matter what’s right or wrong, it matters who says it"—is contributing to the "infantilization" of Western society. Discussions have turned into displays of submission, avoiding intellectual confrontation, with everyone firmly believing in "my truth," rejecting any challenge. As a result, thinking and behavior have become increasingly childish.
In the West, adulthood is traditionally marked by leaving home, achieving financial independence, and starting a family. Yet today, the median age for marriage in the UK has risen to 33 for men and 31 for women, ten years higher than in the early 1960s. A 2016 Pew survey found that more young Americans aged 18–34 preferred to live with their parents—this was the first time in 130 years.
"Popular culture is turning people into babies," Hayward points out, as Western culture collectively celebrates "infantilization" through rock schools, Batman, Spider-Man, and reality TV. The goal is to "normalize infantile behavior," with many ads attacking adulthood and portraying everyone as immature children.
Clearly, astrology is yet another tool of "infantilization."
Why No One Is Hitting the Brakes
The harm of "infantilization" lies in the tendency to opt for simple, crude, direct, and immature solutions, ignoring the complexity of reality. This has fueled the increasing polarization of U.S. politics, with experts becoming the subject of public mockery. It leads to more problems—solving one issue only creates larger ones, which has become a major dilemma in the U.S. today.
How can this vicious cycle be broken? Should media moguls take more responsibility?
While the U.S. has been tightening regulations on major online platforms, the results have been ineffective. Even when platforms like Facebook, X, YouTube, and TikTok remove content, it quickly spreads to smaller platforms with fewer rules and smaller security teams, where this content continues to reach audiences. After content appears on these smaller platforms, larger platforms like Facebook, X, YouTube, and TikTok then redistribute it, gaining more users while avoiding legal responsibility by not being the original source.
Each time the U.S. tightens regulation on "big tech companies," smaller platforms become more active. The "inconsistent enforcement system" allows harmful information to thrive in the cracks, whether intentionally or unintentionally, enabling misinformation to adapt, evade bans, and quickly re-establish itself across various platforms.
Within the U.S., there is no consensus on "infantilization." Not only is regulation weak, but some sectors even seek to profit from it. For instance, the U.S. Army has long struggled with recruitment, and astrology might be seen as an inventive way to address this challenge.
The U.S. Army has posted on its official Instagram account: "Want to know which type of soldier your zodiac sign is best suited for? Click our Instagram Story to find out. This test is completely confidential." When users click, the U.S. Army tells them that if they are a Capricorn, they may become an intelligence officer because "intelligence officers are well-suited for your sign's intellect, and you excel at analyzing and understanding our enemies."
With the U.S. Army grappling with "difficult recruitment," if astrology proves effective, it could be considered an innovative idea, regardless of the larger implications.
