Superstitions: What are they & Why do we believe in them?

A Quick Guide

You may have heard of popular superstitions like:

• A black cat crossing your path is a sign of bad luck
• If you break a mirror, it will bring you 7 years of bad luck.
• Friday the 13^th is an unlucky day
• Finding a horseshoe or its symbol means something good will come your way
• If you spill salt, you should toss it over your shoulder to ward off evil spirits
• If you sneeze thrice, it means someone is missing you

So what exactly are superstitions?

Types of superstitions

Superstitions can broadly be of two types:

1. Cultural superstitions

While some superstitions are widely popular cross-culturally across the globe e.g., black cat. Others may be specific and unique to your own culture. One simply develops or absorbs such superstitions from the culture one lives in. For example, in some parts of Pakistan, red peppers are roasted to ward off evil spirits. or some people believe having dairy products with seafood will give you skin diseases.

The examples given in the beginning are also mostly cultural superstitions. However, the belief in them may vary across cultures. For example, if you belong to a Muslim country, Friday is considered a good day due to its religious meaning.  Whereas in other cultures, it may be associated with evil or some other cultural meaning.

2. Personal superstitions

 It is also highly possible that you hold certain superstitions that are unique or personal to you. People develop them randomly by a process of trial and error. A few examples of personal superstitions could be in the form of a lucky number, a lucky shirt, a lucky charm, or a certain ritual you do every time for doing well.  

Why do people develop and believe in superstitions?

Usually, people develop superstitions when they:

• lack of control over a situation: To cope with feelings of helplessness, anxiety, or powerlessness, individuals form certain rituals or beliefs to give themselves an illusion of control.
• Want something good to happen e.g. a mother may give her son a luck charm on the day of his job interview in the hopes that it will help him secure the job.
• Want to prevent something bad from happening e.g. a person does not want to fail his exam, so he wears a special amulet for this.
• To enhance their performance. E.g. before a big presentation, a public speaker walks around the auditorium 3 times because he believes it will help him give a good speech.  

How do superstitions develop?

‘Learning’ and its related concepts may explain how superstitions are developed. For example, some superstitions are socially learned from others around us. Whereas, we may develop others due to classical conditioning which is a type of learning. To explain this, let us look at an example.

On the day of your exam, you start experiencing anxiety. You notice that when you write with a certain pen, your handwriting looks good. Plus, since you prepared for the exam, you start to remember the answers gradually and your anxiety reduces. But you begin to think all of this is because of the pen and not because you prepared all night. So, you start to associate success in the exam with the pen and consider it a lucky charm. Such that any time you don’t have the pen, you incorrectly assume you cannot do well.

The likelihood of believing in superstitions

Some people are more likely than others to believe in superstitions. Particularly, people who grow up with superstitious families or cultures. Similarly, individuals who are highly anxious or have a high fear of death are more likely to be superstitious. Finally, people who have an external locus of control rely upon superstition to make sense of their lack of control over themselves and the environment.

We hope the above article is helpful to you in understanding superstitions and why we believe in them.