When it comes to seeking compatibility in a friendship or one’s love life, gone are the days when Sunny Hills students are asking each other, “What is your MBTI?”

The use of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator [MBTI] test to determine one’s communication and interaction preferences has recently been replaced by teens’ interest in something that has been around since the 5th century.

More than ever before, they’re resorting back to astrology and asking the question, “What’s your sign?”

“My zodiac sign horoscopes can be a very hit or miss, but they’re mostly accurate,” senior Irene Kang said. “I don’t take it super seriously but when it does apply to me, I like to compare it to my actual personality.”

Even though the concept existed for decades, astrology has been making a comeback among Generation Zers, a term dubbed by the media for anyone born between the mid-to-late 1990s and the early 2010s. A January 2018 article from The Atlantic attributed the rise of astrology analyses to increased exposure in the media, especially through meme culture on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Advanced Placement Psychology teacher David Fenstermaker, who engages his students in various intelligence and personality tests, believes people seek zodiac sign traits and horoscopes to make sense of irregular and unexplainable occurrences.

“People like to believe that we have an answer for things, like why we’re compatible with people,” Fenstermaker said. “We can simplify things because our brains have a lot of things to worry about.”

He recalled that newspapers from his teenage years printed astrological information and characteristics, which contributed to their popularity. With a smaller proportion of Gen Zers reading print products, interest in this field diminished until its reemergence during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fenstermaker said.

“I think there’s still a group of people that routinely use it to make decisions,” he said. “I think it goes back to when people had extra time on their hands, searching for meaning for things.”

Forty-three percent of Gen Zers would make a big life decision based on a horoscope or tarot reading, according to an October 2019 online publication from GenZInsights. Though senior Chanel Merino falls into that minority, they said they rely more on their zodiac sign characteristics for assurance.

Influenced by their grandma’s interest in astrology, Merino said they frequently saw daily horoscopes – insights into a zodiac sign’s future based on the position of celestial objects – when they were a child.

According to a January 2022 article from Dictionary.com, the 12 zodiac signs — determined based on the angle of stars and planets on the day, time and location of one’s birth — affect an individual’s personality, physical traits and relationships. Zodiac signs accompany astrology, the study of celestial objects’ influences on terrestrial events, and lack scientific validity. 

Babylonian astronomers created the first zodiac wheel, and by the end of the 5th century B.C., they divided the Earth’s orbital plane into 12 equal sections, identifying each by the name of an animal, according to an April 2021 My Modern Net article.

Merino, a Pisces born between February 19 and March 20, utilizes their zodiac sign to assess their compatibility with potential romantic partners or friends. As a Piscean, they find themself best suited with Virgos, Tauruses, Cancers, Scorpios and Capricorns.

“I think in many cases this is true from my own experiences with friends I have met,” they said. “I noticed I best get along with my friend who is a Cancer, and there’s a high level of emotional understanding between us.”

Aside from traditional ways of finding romantic partners, Merino uses their zodiac compatibility to find reassurance for finding a love interest.

Senior Irene Kang first encountered astrology and zodiac signs through TikTok and other social media platforms during quarantine, around the same time the field gained attraction among other Gen Zers. 

“Zodiac signs are interesting to look at,” said Kang, who is a Cancer. “I’ve talked about it before with my boyfriend, and it’s kind of funny to see how accurate it is.”

Though astrology does not dictate her behavior in a relationship, Kang sees similarities between her and her boyfriend senior Chad Nguyen, also a Cancer, whom she met through mutual friends at the end of their sophomore year in May 2021.

“I think Cancers aren’t super compatible because they’re so similar like that,” she said. “We kind of know that our personalities sometimes clash, and we keep in mind that it’s like that because of our zodiac signs.” 

Since Kang held an interest in astrology even before high school, she figured out Nguyen’s zodiac sign from his birthday and shared facts about their compatibility between their relationship.

“Now that I was in a relationship, I had something to actually compare the zodiac compatibility descriptions with,” said the senior, who agreed with the notion that her peers at SH are into zodiac signs to confirm relationships. “Before, I would just read the compatibility portions of horoscopes and not really look into it.”

The senior believes that students more often seek interest in zodiac signs than MBTI personality tests because they offer more flexibility and in-depth analysis of each type.

“I feel like zodiac signs have been around longer in the conversation of compatibility, and there’s more information for it,” she said. “I know that people look into zodiac signs more because there’s a more variety of them like the sun, moon and rising signs to make it more accurate than MBTI.”

Similarly, junior Camille Timbol – a Capricorn – said she was first exposed to astrology through TikTok videos in mid-2020.

“[My interest in zodiac signs] started out as a joke, and I used to even make fun of it,” Timbol said. “‘I used to think, ‘it’s kind of dumb,’ but I got more into it my freshman year.”

Though she was not immediately lured into the belief, the junior shared knowledge she gained through personal research with her friends and enjoys referencing astrology in her conversations.

“When I see that they are compatible with me, I just feel like it makes sense,” said Timbol, who uses astrological compatibility as just one of the many conditions when selecting a partner. “I understand why we get along and why the bond is a certain way.”

The student also receives reassurance from knowing that most of her friends have Cancer placements, another sign known for being compatible with Capricorns.