The Barnum effect is the tendency for an individual to personalize a generalization that could apply to anyone. It is a type of cognitive bias that was characterized by psychologist Bertram Forer as being a logical fallacy of personal validation.

This cognitive bias is used to make generalized judgments about people. This is seen usually on “scams” and “Ponzi schemes”. If someone is making a judgment on you based on a generalized trait, you should take it with a grain of salt.