The psychology of superstition has accompanied humanity since the earliest days of its existence, superstitious behaviors have always existed and each culture has its own, for example, in some parts of Russia, breaking a dish bodes well, it is as if all superstition had some use in everyday life.
In our culture we have several latent superstitions that operate in secret, we all know someone who points out how unfortunate it is to meet a black cat or break a mirror.
- The paradox is that while there is no logical or scientific argument to support them.
- People who actually have these beliefs tend to condition their lives based on them.
- In some cases these may be small gestures of little importance.
- But in others they do become true rituals.
Superstition is the belief in an association without consensual arguments to support it, for example, believing that having a rabbit’s foot in the keychain brings good luck, there is no evidence that this is true, but some people think so, here are other examples of superstitions:
Superstitions often try to bring luck or avoid bad luck, they are a (alleged) way to attract success and ward off failure. We believe that participating in these behaviors will make our lives easier and provide us with money, love, or success.
Although there are a number of global superstitions, each person can develop their own.
The principle behind the psychology of superstition is the so-called operational conditioning identified by BF Skinner, for that he began working with pigeons, when these animals pressed a button inside their cage, they received food.
Over time, they learned that the button fed them, so they squeezed it when they were hungry, later the system changed in such a way that when the pigeons made certain movements, they received reinforcements, so they incorporated “superstitious”. behaviors “related to movements with the intention of obtaining the reward.
It is very similar to what happens in humans with superstitions, a person can associate a positive or negative consequence with a specific behavior, if for example we are going to do a test with a specific T-shirt and take a good note, we can use the same clothes to do the following tests.
There are also other phenomena that promote superstition, such as self-fulfilling prophecy or confirmation bias, which draws people’s attention to data/events that confirm the initial hypothesis, ignoring or paying little attention to those who do not.
Thus, if one believes in the superstition of the black cat and one day crosses it in the street, it is easy to use this encounter as an excuse for everything that happens during this day, associating the positive with other causes.
Usually superstition is not a bad thing in itself, it is simply a set of beliefs that permeate our minds, however, superstitions can become a problem when they reach certain levels:
All of this increases anxiety levels and decreases confidence in our abilities. Relying to such an extent on an object or behavior underestimates our ability to accomplish things on our own. It’s a subtle way to take credit for ourselves and reject it.
The best way to fight superstition is to use the power of our minds, develop a critical attitude towards the associations we have established and with whom we operate is a good protective factor against this type of belief, selective proactivity limits and refines the number of ideas that govern us, so indirectly increases our freedom.
Exposing yourself to situations where you may feel powerless not to use your amulets is a good way to alleviate the anxiety that superstition generates, after all, is nothing more than a belief, not a law of nature, so it is also important to learn to control anxiety, not only for cases of superstition, but also for life in general.
In conclusion, is superstition —and therefore the psychology of superstition—likely to accompany us, as a species, forever. Its benefits can be multiple: how to reduce uncertainty or increase the sense of control; on the other hand, the negative part appears when it limits or generates anxiety.