Theme 1 - Superstitions and Beliefs - Shedding Light on the Issue

 

Every human culture in society has its own set of superstitions and blind beliefs. Some may be simply a way to teach children good habits and differentiate between right and wrong, whereas some may be to prevent entire communities to undertake certain actions. Superstitions not only establish certain rules and norms of a particular culture but also show hope of rewards in exchange for good behavior and determine specific punishments for bad behavior.

Humans are always in search of an explanation and when science does not have one, superstitions jump in. Superstitions may not always be correct or factually accurate, yet they are a level or expression of truth that is forwarded throughout generations until a more pragmatic answer can be provided to a new generation’s questions.

However, such illogical thought processes discourage rational thinking – an effect that is not acceptable or appreciated in today’s generations. These articles talk about how superstitions have been incorporated in modern life and what impact they are having on everything from human behavior to global economy.

References

Fatik Baran Mandal, Superstitions: A Culturally Transmitted Human Behavior, International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 8 No. 4, 2018, pp. 65-69. doi: 10.5923/j.ijpbs.20180804.02.

This article explains superstitions under two heads – as a habit and as a belief. It explores how superstitions are of various types and what might be the possible causes of the transmission of these superstitions across generations. It analyses how superstitions may vary with cultural, socio-economic, ethnic, educational and environmental changes. The study examines superstition as a facet of human behavior rather than confronting it as a non-scientific irrational statement. This is a new perspective to the established phenomenon and gives a look into how labelling superstition as an unfounded and extensively imprudent belief in the unknown is not the complete definition of this observed phenomenon.

Republic of Turkey Minstry of Culture and Tourism, (n.d.). Superstitions. Retrieved from: https://www.ktb.gov.tr/EN-98631/superstitions.html

This brief article talks a lot about what are superstitions and what are some probable causes. The article also gives an exhaustive range of superstitions that are commonly seen in society. The list emphasises how silly human thought may often seem but how deep-rooted these beliefs can be. The beliefs of one culture may seem idiotic to one culture and vice versa. However, the faith in them remains steadfast and shows how easily human emotion and conviction can be toyed with. The range of thoughts is elaborate and talks about how superstitions have found their place even in daily life routines like eating and cutting one’s nails.

Moore, David (Oct 13,2000). One in Four Americans is superstitious. Gallup News. Retrieved from: https://news.gallup.com/poll/2440/one-four-americans-superstitious.aspx

 

This is a short article by a news website that talks about a  telephonic poll conducted on their website in September 1996. Although the research may be not very apt in today’s millennium, yet participants were a random representative sample of 1000 adults, thus giving a pretty good idea of the overall population. The article gives light into some important statistics, including that nearly 25% Americans are superstitious. Contrary to popular belief, youngsters are more superstitious than the elderly. The article thus sheds light into important statistics that help understand the prevalence of this issue.

Jagel Katie, (Feb 18, 2014). Young Americans are more superstitious. YouGov.  Retrieved from: https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2014/02/18/young-americans-are-more-superstitious

 

This is an article that gives more recent statistics about youth and their involvement in superstitions. It supports and emphasises research given by David Moore through the Gallup News article. There is increasing evidence that suggests that participants may not describe them as outright superstitious but they do believe in certain set of beliefs while not recognising that these are inherent superstitions.

Kansas State University (Oct 25, 2013) Psychology Professor Says Superstitions All About Trying to Control Fate. Retrieved from: https://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/oct13/superstition102513.html

This is an article describing the thoughts penned by Prof. Don Saucier at the Kansas State University, who explains superstitious behavior as an attempt to control one’s destiny. He believes that human behavior that arises out of a need to fill the vacuum of the unknowingness can be described as superstitions. Thus, according to Prof. Saucier, he believes that superstitions can be explained as a mechanism to manipulate human fate. He also explains that depiction of repeated lack of association between behavior and the event expected because of the behavior, i.e. superstition can help insinuate the necessity of the belief. He bases his proposition on the theory of extinction of learning. This is thus a probably scientific application that can be used to eliminate superstition in society beginning on an individualistic level.

Higgins, Marissa (Feb 29, 2016). Bustle. Retrieved from: https://www.bustle.com/articles/144848-4-reasons-people-believe-in-superstitions-according-to-science

 

This article focuses on four popular causes of existence of superstitions – love for rituals, love for solidarity, need for control, and desire to lessen anxiety. All four of them have been statistically suggested to impact human faith in superstitions of all kinds and provides more insight into the psychology that goes behind such encouraging trust in these theories. Higgins explores how some research studies have concluded these aspects as causes and describes what aspect of these causes are actually responsible for creating a human mindset that essentially recognises these superstitions as truths. 

DeLassio, Joe (June 11, 2015).Why Superstitions Help Athletes Perform Better. The Cut Retrieved from: https://www.thecut.com/2015/06/why-superstitions-help-athletes-perform-better.html

This article focuses on how superstitions have been incorporated into the lives of sportsmen and athletes. Notable and famous sports players have fallen prey to the practices of rituatlistic behavior to ensure success in their games. Although research suggests that practicing these superstitions helps improve their performance, the apparent correlations is because of a psychological relief and not exactly because of the superstition. It is therefore important to understand that superstitions are not the reason behind victory and good luck, but rather all of it is in our minds – the strength to win, the reason to play – this article gives tonnes of research talking about sports, superstitions and influence of these actions

What Superstitions and Beliefs do you have? Let me know in the comments below!

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Until then....signing off!

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