Why Young People Are Obsessed with Personality Tests and Various Pseudosciences: A Psychological Analysis of Underlying Real-World Psychological Distresses

Abstract

Ages 14 to 24 constitute a critical stage for psychological and personality development. During physical and mental transformations, the youth groups, namely adolescents and young adults shape their self-perception and values. Growing social attention has been paid to youth groups’ mental health, yet research indicates widespread anxiety, depression and other psychological troubles that hinder sound personality formation. In this paper, pseudoscience refers to content lacking testable empirical evidence but presented as an explanatory or predictive tool. Given insufficient mental health support within educational systems, numerous youth groups turn to personality tests, astrology and other pseudosciences in search of answers—a phenomenon that exposes deficiencies in mental health education and unmet psychological demands [1,2,3]. Therefore, understanding the mental health and personality composition of young people now is helpful to formulate correct ways of helping them to grow up in all aspects, give educators a scientific basis, and urge society to give priority to the cultivation of personality. From four aspects: cognitive psychological mechanisms, personal psychological troubles, social environment influence and interpersonal needs, paper summarizes the previous research results about young people’s enthusiasm for this trend, and hides them in the deep heart to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the current research. Combining with the current social trends, it summarizes the value of the research, providing theoretical reference for guiding young people to think rationally and scientifically and avoiding sticking to pseudoscience.