In pretty much any culture around the world, you will find superstitions. They come in all shapes and sizes. There are those of us who avoid walking under ladders, shriek at the sight of a black cat, look for lucky four leaf clovers, and even perform ridiculous rituals in order to assure that our team wins on game day. If you’re a Seahawks fan, maybe your technique is working, but seeing as this Superbowl was the first in the franchise’s history, I sincerely doubt it.
I know as a child, I was prone to my own superstitions. I never walked on the cracks in the sidewalks for fear of breaking my mother’s back and genuinely believed that only good things happened when I wore my favorite purple dress. I excuse my childhood fancies, but many individuals in the world cling tightly to their superstitions.
In psychology, superstitions are examples of illusory correlations. As humans, we seem to have this natural tendency to look for relationships even when none exist. Of course, if you look at enough random data, some of the random outcomes may seem to express order. So maybe on Sunday you did your special dance and then the Seahawks scored a touchdown, but they scored a lot, it was only a matter of time until your dance seemed to work.
Rationally, we can agree that opening an umbrella indoors will not doom you to life of bad luck. However, many people still feel the need to close their umbrellas before entering a building or feel uneasy if they leave their umbrellas open when inside. This makes you consider the origins of superstitions and why in an era filled with technology and science do we still cling to them.
The reason is largely routed in our need to control the universe. Most of what happens in the world is out of our hands, but superstitions can give us the illusion of having more control of what occurs in our lives. Don Saucier, associate professor of psychology at Kansas State University, observed that, “Not knowing what will happen to them is discomforting, and performing superstitious behavior can make people feel a little better about the future.”1 Observing superstitions seems to be a coping mechanism people developed to deal with a constantly changing, unpredictable world. With the accelerating pace of change currently occurring in the world, people may feel the need to cling to their superstitions more than ever.
Just think of that moment of relief you feel after you have unjinxed yourself by knocking on a piece of wood. I, for one, am going to keep opening my umbrella only once outdoors as well as avoid walking under any ladders.
I love this blog post for multiple reasons. I am for one very superstitious but havn’t really put much thought into it before reading this post. Years ago I was taking an honors class in high school. In this class, it was very difficult for me to get the grade that I desired on an exam. During Christmas I got new earrings from one of my favorite jewelry places called Charming Charlies. I wore these earrings during my next exam and earned a very high score. Of course I thought it was the earrings! Although, it was probably due to my change in study habits. Next exam I went back to the old way I was studying and accidentally forgot my earrings. Since I didn’t do well on the exam I thought it was because of my earrings when little I knew it was because I didn’t study the correct way! Who knew I was one of those superstitious people.