Duck or rabbit illusion debunked: What you see first isn't just a trick—Here's what science really says

It’s a sketch you’ve probably scrolled past dozens of times—an image that can be a duck or a rabbit depending on how you look at it. First published in a German humor magazine in 1892, this now-iconic illusion continues to grip imaginations and spark debates, especially online, where viral posts claim that the animal you see first reveals deep secrets about your personality.

Spot the duck first? You're supposedly an optimistic go-getter. See the rabbit? Congratulations, you might just be a creative procrastinator. But before you let an 1892 doodle define your destiny, psychologists have stepped in to offer some grounded clarity.

Cracking the Code of Illusions: The Study That Challenges Social Media Wisdom
According to a report from Daily Mail, Psychologist Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire, along with Caroline Watt from the University of Edinburgh, decided it was time to put these social media claims to the test. They conducted a study with 300 participants aged between 18 and 79, asking them to interpret four well-known ambiguous images: the duck-rabbit, Rubin’s vase, the young/old woman, and the horse-seal illusion.

The participants then answered detailed questionnaires assessing personality traits like emotional stability, openness, procrastination, and spontaneity. The goal? To see whether perception of these images really aligned with personality traits, as Instagram infographics and TikTok videos would have you believe.

Is it a Duck or a Rabbit? For Google Cloud Vision, it depends how the image is rotated. pic.twitter.com/a30VzjEXVv

— Max Woolf (@minimaxir) March 7, 2019

Debunked: What the Duck-Rabbit Doesn’t Say About You
First, let’s set the record straight—most of the popular claims about these illusions don’t hold up under scientific scrutiny. Seeing a duck first was not linked to higher optimism or emotional stability. Likewise, spotting the rabbit wasn’t a surefire sign of procrastination. Similar myths surrounding the other images—such as interpreting the older woman in the famous age illusion as a sign of logical thinking—also fell apart when confronted with real data.

Professor Wiseman called these widespread beliefs “a new type of psychological myth”—pseudo-scientific conclusions that spread rapidly online despite little to no evidence.

But Not All Is Illusion: Some Perception-Personality Links Do Exist
That said, the study didn’t debunk everything. There were a few striking correlations. For example, seeing the rabbit first was surprisingly associated with traits like sociability, diligence, and meticulousness—traits you'd expect more from a Type-A personality than a habitual procrastinator. Meanwhile, participants who first noticed the faces in Rubin’s vase scored higher in openness, and those who saw the younger woman first tended to be more spontaneous.

And in the lesser-known horse-seal illusion, those who saw the seal first were found to be more intuitive and spontaneous thinkers. So while the online claims might oversimplify, they aren't entirely plucked from fantasy.

Illusions, Identity, and Why We Still Love Them
So why do these unverified claims gain so much traction? The researchers suggest that it may be a case of cognitive comfort—people enjoy simple, bite-sized explanations for complex human traits. There’s a satisfying sense of self-discovery in illusions that seem to “get” us in a single glance.

But as this study reveals, real psychology isn’t always that simple. The connection between what we perceive and who we are might exist—but it's nuanced, partial, and still not fully understood.

For now, you can keep enjoying your scroll-stopping illusions. Just take them with a grain of scientific skepticism. After all, seeing a duck instead of a rabbit might not change your life, but it’s certainly given us a new way to look at the age-old debate—with eyes wide open.