In recent seasons of reality TV dating shows, a new question has become nearly as common as “Why are you single?”
It’s “What’s your sign?,” and it reflects the growing popularity of astrology on apps like Instagram and TikTok.
Social media users today regularly stumble onto discussions of birth charts and planetary movements even if they’re not seeking them out. Videos on other New Age practices, like reading tarot cards and charging crystals, similarly drive interest in the spiritual realm.
In response to these trends and religion surveys showing that many young people are interested in spirituality but not religion, researchers are putting more resources toward studying New Age practices — and uncovering some surprises along the way.
For example, a new report from Pew Research Center found that religious identity doesn’t seem to influence engagement with astrology, tarot cards or fortune tellers as much as you might assume.
“There’s a lot of talk about spirituality versus religion (but) at the highest level, the shares who believe in these New Age practices and consult them aren’t too different between the religiously affiliated and religiously unaffiliated,” said Chip Rotolo, the lead author of Pew’s report.
The survey showed that other factors, including age and sexual orientation, are better predictors of engagement with these practices.
“Being LGBT is not only a predictor of believing in astrology or consulting astrology — it’s one of the strongest predictors," Rotolo said.
But perhaps the biggest surprise in Pew’s new study is that belief in astrology isn’t actually growing, despite the impression you get from watching reality TV.
Today, 27% of U.S. adults say they believe the position of the stars and planets can affect people’s lives, compared to 29% in 2017.
“Given the discussion we see out there on social media and in articles about rising interest in New Age beliefs, I would have expected to see the share who believe in astrology to be somewhat higher now than when we asked about it in the past,” said Rotolo, a research associate for Pew.
Spirituality in the U.S.
The new study on astrology, tarot cards and fortune telling builds on Pew’s 2023 report about spirituality in the U.S.
That earlier report investigated what Americans mean when they call themselves spiritual but not religious and identified widespread support for spiritual concepts, including the idea that there is something spiritual beyond the natural world.
Researchers found that young Americans are less likely than older Americans to describe connecting with God as an essential part of being spiritual. Instead, spiritual young adults are focused on connecting with their “true self” and being open-minded, Rotolo said.
Those 2023 findings might explain why young adults seem to be dabbling in a wide variety of New Age practices without putting much stock in any single one. They may value the experience more than the actual content of a horoscope or fortune.
But it’s still fair to say that younger Americans value practices like tarot cards, fortune telling and astrology more than older adults.
Pew found that 17% of adults between ages 18 and 29 turn to these activities “for helpful insights,” compared to 10% of U.S. adults overall.
Thirteen percent of the younger cohort say they rely on astrology, tarot cards or fortune telling “at least a little” when making major life decisions, compared to 7% of U.S. adults overall.
These gaps grow even bigger if you isolate younger women and compare them to older adults.
“For example, 43% of women ages 18 to 49 say they believe in astrology. That compares with 27% of women ages 50 and older, 20% of men ages 18 to 49, and 16% of men who are 50 and older,” researchers wrote.
Popularity of New Age practices
As Rotolo noted, LGBT people of all ages stand out in the survey — even more than young adults.
Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender are more likely to participate in these practices, believe in them and draw on them when making major life decisions.
“It is pretty striking to see that the 28% of Americans overall who consult with astrology or horoscopes rises to 54% of LGBT adults. I can’t think of that many religious and spirituality measures where we’ve seen such large differences among the LGBT community,” Rotolo said.
The new survey also identified some interesting differences between religious groups.
Black Protestants and Hispanic Catholics stand out for their interest in these New Age practices, while white evangelicals stand out for their disinterest.
“Similarly, among the religiously unaffiliated, there’s quite a lot of diversity,” Rotolo said. “There’s lower levels of belief among atheists and much higher levels among those who say their religion is nothing in particular.”
Rotolo noted that he’d like to do more research in the future about what makes certain groups more likely to engage in these practices and what more frequent participants are hoping to gain from astrology, tarot cards and fortune telling.
“Those are the things we want to ask about in the future,” he said.
Pew’s new survey was fielded from Oct. 21-27, 2024, among 9,593 U.S. adults. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 1.3 percentage points.