While waiting for the list of final competitors to come out at her speech tournament, senior Sami Abrams refuses to take her heels off. Abrams believes that if she changes out of her heels beforehand, then she will not make it to finals, because taking them off means she is done competing for the day.
“Even if I’m not making something happen by [leaving my heels on], it’s still keeping me motivated that [making it to finals] could happen,” Abrams said.
According to Dr. Robert Hymes, associate professor of psychology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, “A superstition is basically an irrational or unrealistic thought that leads to a behavior sometimes, and it kind of contradicts everything we know about reality, empirical evidence from science and so on. I like to think of it as magical thinking.”
Our minds look for patterns to make sense of reality even when those patterns are not real, Hymes said.
“We pay attention to the things that confirm our superstition, but we ignore some of the things that don’t confirm it,” Hymes said.
According to Dr. Phillips Stevens Jr., associate professor of anthropology, emeritus at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, when something really great happens, people try to make it occur again by reconstructing the conditions under which it happened the first time.
“If something terrible happens, something really unfortunate, which causes some damage or some injury or worse, then people avoid doing the same things that they did on that day that terrible thing happened,” Stevens said.
Both superstitions and rituals are prevalent in sports, but while the behaviors seem similar, they are rooted in different motivations.
“There might be some ritualistic behaviors before [a] game that help you focus, and that will increase the probability you will perform better in the game,” said Bryan Lovelace, adjunct professor in the Department of Behavior Analysis at the University of North Texas. “By definition, that wouldn’t be superstitious because the behaviors you engaged in have a direct link to the outcome. What makes [ritualistic behaviors] superstitious is if the behaviors themselves don’t really have a relationship
to the outcome but you think they do.”
Accordingto Hymes, human beings seek to reduce theiranxiety bycontrollingtheir environment through superstitions.
A common superstition people engage in is the 11:11 wish, which is when the clock strikes 11:11, people close their eyes, make a wish and hope it comes true.
There have been times when Abrams didn’t get to finish her 11:11 wish before it changed to 11:12, Abrams said.
“I would get frustrated,” said Abrams. “I’d be like, ‘No, no, [what I wished for is] not gonna happen because I missed it.’”
According to Lovelace, if someone forgets to complete their superstition, they may realize that there was no link between their behavior and the outcome.
“I think it’s a fool’s errand to try to get rid of [superstitions],” said Lovelace. “The best thing that you can do, and I really believe this, is education and to teach people to think critically.”
Superstitions can become unhealthy when the behavior does not help the user’s anxiety.
“When [superstitious behavior] affects your ability to work, when it affects your ability to function and to enjoy things and get fulfillment, I think that’s when it becomes a problem,” Lovelace said.
According to Stevens, superstitions are a fundamental part of human nature.
“[Superstition] gives people a sense that they are making something happen, even within their own little tiny corner of the world, and that’s important,” said Stevens. “That’s very important to human existence, really. That’s probably the fundamental reason why superstitions will continue, no matter how far science and technology advance.”