re: #551 b_sharp

Correlation is not causation and your linked to abstract makes that point. Self fulfilling prophecy looks to be a big part of it.

That’s more or less the potential explanation. If some parents fudged the birth data a bit in accordance with their astrological beliefs (and then raised their children accordingly) that would explain both the existence of the Mars effect and why it’s so tiny. I guess there are lessons for everybody here. Astrologers will grasp at whatever straws they can - even though the Mars effect not only does not support, but rather debunks the traditional astrology (since it’s so small). And respectable skeptics will sometimes behave not very honestly when they’re faced with such a problem (the whole sordid story was documented by Jim Lippard and others, easily googlable).