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this is a fun paper Rotton, J., & Kelly, I. W. (1985). Much ado about the full moon: A meta-analysis of lunar-lunacy research. Psychological Bulletin, 97(2), 2

by eadler 2y ago

this is a fun paper Rotton, J., & Kelly, I. W. (1985). Much ado about the full moon: A meta-analysis of lunar-lunacy research. Psychological Bulletin, 97(2), 286–306. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.97.2.286 https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.97.2.286 Although this meta-analysis uncovered a few statistically significant relations between phases of the moon and behavior, it cannot be concluded that people behave any more (or less) strangely during one phase of the moon than another. Unfortunately, the lunar hypothesis is so general that it can handle any result. It is not enough to show that lunacy is more likely to occur during full phases of the moon than other phases, as folklore and superstition suggest. Adopting a more limited but common view of lunar influences, one must conclude that evidence for the lunar hypothesis fails to pass three crucial tests. The first and most important is replicability. For every study that has recorded more lunacy when the moon is full, another has recorded less. A second test, which should be regarded as a substitute for replicability, is statistical significance. Even when a large number of results are combined, one cannot reject the null hypothesis of no relation between phases of the moon and behavior at conventional levels of significance. A third and closely related test is predictability. Given the task of predicting people's behavior, knowingthe moon's phase reduces our uncertainty by less than 1%. Taking a cue from this review's title, some may conclude that all we have written is "much ado about nothing." Because the topic borders on the paranormal, it is easy to dismiss lunar-lunacy research as ridiculous (Levy, 1975) and unworthy of serious consideration. However, psychologists need to take the topic seriously because, if for no other reason, so many people believe that their behavior is influenced by the moon. For example, Angus (1973) found that 74% of the nurses working in one psychiatric setting believed that the moon affects mental illness.

brnaftr361 2y ago
It's honestly derogatory. I would posit this type of research is strongly motivated by the wont of certain individuals to dispel outright any conception of superstition. A la hard-line atheists. They're not intent on observation and development of understanding but rather destruction. Again, I would push that ancestral explanations tend to hold a kernel of truth and with it value. However, they're very much Fisher Price building blocks, moreover they're nth-hand and have been prostituted into industries and perverted in the process. Sensitivities have declined, people are reactive, and have in many parts of the world grown averse to such enchantment, so motive for a Hawthorne Effect exists, examining behavioral spectra as it relates to seasons and planetary shifts and tides/moon/solar cycles is I'm sure increasingly noisy as to have abated it's appearance almost entirely. Lest we forget our past was exclusively environmentally determined. Sedentary cultivars of humans have only existed for what is essentially the blink of an eye on the evolutionary timescale. And we have only had the probe of formal psychology for an equivalent of a microsecond and it proves unwieldy even now. And we wouldn't be special in such a lunar/solar/seasonal regime. What I would say is that it shouldn't be discounted out of hand, and that is all.

by eadler 2y ago

brnaftr361 2y ago

It's honestly derogatory. I would posit this type of research is strongly motivated by the wont of certain individuals to dispel outright any conception of superstition. A la hard-line atheists. They're not intent on observation and development of understanding but rather destruction. Again, I would push that ancestral explanations tend to hold a kernel of truth and with it value. However, they're very much Fisher Price building blocks, moreover they're nth-hand and have been prostituted into industries and perverted in the process. Sensitivities have declined, people are reactive, and have in many parts of the world grown averse to such enchantment, so motive for a Hawthorne Effect exists, examining behavioral spectra as it relates to seasons and planetary shifts and tides/moon/solar cycles is I'm sure increasingly noisy as to have abated it's appearance almost entirely. Lest we forget our past was exclusively environmentally determined. Sedentary cultivars of humans have only existed for what is essentially the blink of an eye on the evolutionary timescale. And we have only had the probe of formal psychology for an equivalent of a microsecond and it proves unwieldy even now. And we wouldn't be special in such a lunar/solar/seasonal regime. What I would say is that it shouldn't be discounted out of hand, and that is all.