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Understanding, defining and

measuring the trait of superstition

Éva Delacroix,

Professor

Valérie GUILLARD

PhD student

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Are you superstitious?

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What is superstition? Beliefs or behaviors that are contrary to rational norms within a specific

society (Campbell, 1996)

Confusion around this concept: frontiers between superstition, the paranormal, witchcraft or religion are vague.

Superstitions are culturally anchored by members of a given society In China, prices ending with the digit 8 are very common (local belief

that number 8 brings luck, prosperity and happiness) (Simmons and Schindler, 2002).

Aim of this research: clarify the definition and the dimensions of superstition Propose the adequate measurement scale

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What is superstition? (continued)

Superstition beliefs rely on a mistaken causal link between two phenomena that, from a rational standpoint have nothing to do with one another.

Primitive superstition is related to true beliefs: people in Middle Age truly

and deeply believed that crows brought bad luck (Skinner, 1948 ; Staddon and

Simmelhag, 1971 ; Devenport and Holloway, 1980)

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What is superstition? (continued)

Modern superstition:

People says « It’s a very old ritual, I know it’s absurd, but… » (qualitative research)

People do not believe in the existence of a mistaken causal links between two events (cross the finger and to pass an exam). But they practice some rituals.

Half belief (Campbell, 1996): people adopt superstitious behaviors without deeply believing in them. They are reluctant to say they really believe in the validity of

superstition BUT they are reluctant to say the do not believe in it.

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What is superstition? (continued)

Superstition gives the illusion of control (Langer, 1975, 1977)

Superstitions are used to fight anxiety by filling the psychological gap

caused by uncertainty (Malinowski, 1948)

Superstitious thoughts or behaviours are used as a substitution to instrumental acts that people would have liked to achieve in order to influence the situation

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Measure of superstition

Need for a reliable and valid measurement scale of supersistion When you ask people if they are supertitious “No”. People are reluctant to admit their irrational beliefs, even if they

have such irrational thoughts or practices. What are the variety of superstitions behaviours?

Lack of such measure in the literature 2 dimensions measure superstition (Jahoda, 1969 ; Wiseman and Watt, 2004)

Definition of superstition Superstition consists in unfounded half-beliefs that certain facts

(external uncontrollable events or internal actions) or objects can carry good or bad luck, or be omens of futur positive or negative events.

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Measure of superstition (continued)

Study 1 Exploratory qualitative study (N=52 students, aged 23 years)

“Do you have some rituals which bring you good luck” “Before a stressful event (competition, exams, etc), do you have some

rituals to move the bad luck away?” “Are you superstitious?” List of superstitious beliefs and behaviours

Study 2 Psychometric scale development procedures: Test of a large pool of

items Sample 1 : 150 french business students (45 items) Sample 2 : 119 french business students (32 items) Sample 3 : 215 french non student individuals (27 items)

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Measure of superstition (continued)

Items of practice and beliefs are highly correlated (r > 0,8) We only kept the belief formulated items

When I see a black cat I turn my way Black cats carry bad luck

24 items measure superstition with 5 dimensions 60 % variance explained

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Measure of superstition (continued)

Lucky Charms (alpha = 0,84)

When I hope something good arrives, I cross my fingers 0,852

I have some days which bring me good luck 0,674

I have some figures which bring me good luck 0,610

Friday the thirteenth brings me good luck 0,587

I have some objects which bring me good luck r 0,580

To avoid misfortune, I touch my theat or wood 0,532

I have some rituals which bring me good luck (I always wear the same tee shirt for example)

0,517

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Measure of superstition (continued)

Fate and signs (alpha = 0,83)

I think that the fate send us some signs which guide us in our choice

0,825

If something wrong happened to me, I tell me « I was written »

0,819

I believe on good or bad destiny 0,759

I look for signs to guide me in the life 0,524

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Measure of superstition (continued)

Magical thinking (alpha = 0,86)

I often challenge me to bring me good luck 0,937

I often look for signs when I want to be reassured (for example if I cross more than 7 underground train)

0,817

Sometimes, I challenge me to know if I have good luck (I draw a pellet of paper in a trash)

0,731

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Measure of superstition (continued)

Defensive pessimism (alpha = 0,67)

I never buy a gift for a baby who is not born… 0,815

I do not like to celebrate my birthday before the D day, it brings bad luck

0,617

When I believe that something good is arrived, I do not say it if it does not arrived… pas

0,536

When I make a wish, I do not say out loud, it will not come true

0,513

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Measure of superstition (continued)

Popular sayings (alpha = 0,85)

If I see a crow , it is a sign that I will happened misfortune to me

0,816

To meet a black cat is a sign of misfortune 0,744

Friday the thirteen is a day which brings bad luck 0,738

Passing under a ladder brings bad luck 0,592

Breaking a mirror bring bad luck 0,523

Finding a four-leaf clover bring bad luck 0,323

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Discussion

Contributions 5 dimensions conceptually interesting for a better understanding of

superstition Existing scales not relevant: they only measure popular belief superstitions

Limitations Fate and signs: dimension inside our definition?

Related to external locus of control whereas others dimensions related to internal locus of control (by respecting some mental rules, I can control the world)

Violation of normality, most people exhibit low scores How can we take the distribution asymetry into account?

Scale developped in France and might not be applied in other cultures

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Discussion (continued)

Relevance in literature

Superstition and marketing

In the USA, between 800 and 900 millions dollars are lost in business of each Friday the thirteenth because people do not want to go to work (Kramer and Bloke, 2008)

Beijing Summer Olympic games are scheduled to open on August 8, 2008 at 8 PM

Thank you for your attention !!!