Introduction
There is no doubt that human has no full control of the outcome of an event. In a condition of uncontrollability, we usually perceive that the outcome of the event is due to external locus of control (e.g., system and superstition). In fact, in a study conducted by Matute (1994, 1995) proves that participants are prone to react in accordance with their superstition practice and creating an illusion of control when facing uncontrollable events. This proves that those with superstitious beliefs considered themselves to have control over uncontrollable outcomes.
According to Vyse (2000), Superstitious beliefs is a belief in supernormal causality - the outcome of an event is due to another event without scientific explanation linking both events (e.g., breaking mirrors and black cats cause bad luck).
Studies shown that throughout times of unsureness, uncontrollability or vagueness, superstitious beliefs are reported to be high. For example Padgett and Jorgenson (1982) states that during the Great Depression of the United State, there was an increase in interest learning astrology. Similarly, Keinan (1994) observed that citizens that live in areas that are more likely to be bomb by missiles have higher level of paranormal thoughts than those who are living in more peaceful region. Malinowski (1954) reported that superstitious beliefs was clearly seem when Trobriand islanders went fishing in a lower success rate area - open sea. However, this trend was absent when fishing in higher success rate area - lagoon.
Irwin (1992) suggested in his study that by turning to superstitious beliefs, the beliefs might help in coming up with a perception of control over an uncontrollable events. This shows that, by possessing a...
... middle of paper ...
... 67(1), 48-55.
Malinowski, B. (1954). Magic, science, and religion. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Matute, H. (1994). Learned helplessness and superstitious behavior as opposite effects of uncontrollable reinforcement in humans. Learning and Motivation, 25(2), 216-232.
Matute, H. (1995). Human reactions to uncontrollable outcomes: Further evidence for superstitions rather than helplessness. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 48B(2), 142-157.
Padgett, V. R., & Jorgenson, D. O. (1982). Superstition and economic threat: Germany, 1918-1940. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 8(4), 736-741.
Rudski, J. (2004). The illusion of control, superstitious belief, and optimism. Current Psychology, 22(4), 306-315
Vyse, S. A. (2000). Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition (pp. 19–22). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Witchcraft started in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Superstition started when women were accused of acting strangely. These superstitions turned into trials, and later lead to mounds of hanged people. Most of the people accused were innocent, but the harsh judge rulings left them with nothing to live for. The only options for the tried, no matter if guilty or not, were to claim guilty, living the rest of their life in prison, or to plead not guilty and hang. Due to both consequences being equally as punishable, many people isolated themselves from society. Unfortunately, some people caused the uprising of the salem witch trials more than others did. In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams single handedly attributed to the
Many cultures ascribe to some kind of superstition, magic, or faith. Merriam-Webster defines superstition as “a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation” ("Superstition”). This definition makes superstition sound like it belongs in a lower developed country that lacks the ability to have scientific knowledge. However, magic and superstition are alive and well in developed countries, such as the United States. Sports are rife with superstitions. Many players use “ritual, taboos, and fetishes to manage the anxiety generated by unpredictable events that challenge human control” (Gmelch 266). Superstitions are entirely psychological; a way to create a reason for an event that has occurred. In his article “Baseball Magic,” George Gmelch examines the rituals, taboos, and fetishes of American baseball and how they compare to the magic of the Trobriand Islanders.
Sagan said “more than a third of American adults believe that on some level they’ve made contact with the dead” (151). This figure is not hard to believe when one thinks about our need to believe in something greater than ourselves. People believe in superstitions and horoscopes because they want to believe in that something that is greater than themselves is
An example of this would be the fortune telling hairball and the rattlesnake skin. Jim also states during the first few chapters that his body hair is a sign of his future wealth. The signs have no correlation to their meanings and seem ludicrous and silly to those reading about them. Another moment where superstitions became important would be after Jim and Huck Finn 's separation in the fog. When Huck Finn lies to Jim about their separation being a dream Jim begins to tell Huck his interpretation of the dream as a warning. It shows that to the superstitious, signs and meanings can be applied to everything and anything. Later on in the book, while helping Jim to escape, Tom and Huck Finn lie to Nat about odd occurrences caused by their plans. Because Nat is superstitious he is quick to blame witches and believes Tom and Huck Finn 's lies. This allows Tom 's overly complicated plans to take off without a
The first aspect of superstition impacting our lives we’ll explore is the idea of superstitions causing us to spend money. According to the financial firm Forbes, “Superstition is a billion dollar industry. Every year, Americans spend a substantial amount of their disposable income on superstitious items such as 4 leaf
Over the past decade, scientists have conducted research on the effects of a belief in determinism, a belief that one acts with predetermined outcomes, on behavior and values of people. In two 2008 studies,
An astonishing estimate of three out of four Americans believe in the paranormal. That’s approximately two hundred and thirty four billion out of three hundred and twelve billion Americans. The rising paranormal interest negatively affects a community. The economic influence of the paranormal can destroy a town and its reputation. In addition, the belief in the paranormal can leave a person mentally disturbed and cause learned helplessness. This, which affects the people, can hurt a community if a person affected by either is put into a position of power. Also, as seen in the late Victorian era, belief in the supernatural can cause people to turn against one another in large numbers and in turn disrupt their community.
There are some human phenomena, which seem to be the result of individual actions and personal decisions. Yet, these phenomena are often - on closer inspection – as much a result of social factors as of psychological ones.
Determinism and free will are incompatible. The events in people’s lives are already chosen for us, or determined. The expected behaviors of people are explained by natural laws and by experiences that they were exposed to. But this viewpoint does not explain people’s intuition. Although, there is a chain of physical causes that lead into people’s intuition.
As long as one can remember, paranormal beliefs have always existed in human society. They are living in every man’s childhood and in every corner of human’s life. From the burning belief about Santa Claus’s gifts under a Christmas’s tree in the morning to a scary game about Bloody Mary and her coming back from the dead, it seems that people cannot help but draw themselves to these stories. Even when these beliefs fade, there would be a new one that eventually shows up. No matter how much science has progressed, the belief in paranormal phenomena still remains in society. Eventually, the question about paranormal phenomena seems pale in comparison to the human’s undying belief about such things. It is really hard to pinpoint an exact cause for human’s belief in the paranormal for only one cause is not enough; however, it is sure that psychological, sociological, and biological factors play an enormous role that contributes to this belief.
This essay touched on the topics of Negativity Bias, Confirmation Bias, and Gamblers Fallacy, and Illusion of control. Each is just a few samples of a massive plethora of biases and theories based upon humanity. Most people have certain biases that govern their subconscious and will trigger if certain scenarios are met. It is hard to change some effects, like confirmation bias, after it has occurred because it easier to go along with preconceived notion rather than put the effort in reshaping thought
For example, a slave that Huckleberry and Tom talk to on their adventure, rather than used his problem solving skills to figure out that Huckleberry and Tom already knew, he automatically assumed it was witches. "Oh, it's de dad-blame' witches, sah..."(Twain, 237). If he had not believed in his superstition then, he would have figured out that something suspicious was up. Another time is when the slave is oblivious to what is going on when Huckleberry and Tom forgot to fasten the door and the dogs ended up getting into the house. “Mars Sid, you'll say I's a fool but if I din't b'lieve I see most a million dogs er devils, er some'n…”(Twain, 250). Once again, the slave blames it on the witches. Instead of thinking through the
There has been anecdotal evidence to suggest that highly superstitious people tend to believe that they have some degree of control over events over which they objectively have none. This is exemplified by highly superstitious sporting fans who must participate in superstitious rituals for fear that their team would lose if they did not engage in these actions. Credible studies have been done in relation to levels of superstitious beliefs and uncontrollable tasks. One study reports that learned helplessness occurs when participants are faced with uncontrollable tasks and is characterised by decreased motivation and cognitive capacity (Abramson, Seligman and Teasdale, 1978; Hiroto and Seligman 1975). An opposing yet valid study that was instituted by Matute (1994, 1995) exhibited that when participants were faced with an uncontrollable task they tended to respond according to their level of superstitious behaviour and generate an illusion of control. Thus, highly superstitious participants would have a higher illusion of control compared to their less superstitious counterparts who would have lower illusion of control. Langer (1975) describes an ‘illusion of control’ as the erroneous belief that once can influence outcomes in situations under which one has no control. Similar studies to Matute’s have frequently been reported in scientific literature (Ono, 1987; Rudski, Lischner and Albert, 1999). It has become apparent that learned helplessness is usually only observed in two-thirds of human participants (Abramson, Seligman & Teasdale, 1978; and Hiroto, 1974). Thus, Matute’s hypothesis appears to be of a greater consistency to a large amount of studies completed on similar top...
Origins of superstition are deeply rooted in history and have a variety of reasons for the appearance, such as psychological, religious and economic aspects. Despite the fact that superstitions had different origins, according to Smith (2008), their function was to express the ideological associations of people and to indicate fears and anxieties of society at that time. To begin with, the psychological foundation of superstitions is the most deep-seated. It refers to the lack of knowledge and the impossibility to explain occurring events because of this. As Lindeman and Aarino (2007) argue, this fact can be compared with an understanding of the world by a child. As authors said, this understanding is explained by developmental psychologists by a notion of a core knowledge, which means process of cognitive learning about physical, psychological and biological entities and processes without any explanation, help or instructions. For instance, Lindeman and Aarino (ibid) recognize that animated subjects, such as ...
Superstition is a belief that is not based on reasoning or scientific thinking and that explains the causes of events in ways that are connected to magic. In other words, is a blind belief that one believes without any reasons, experiences, nor scientifically. Every people around the world believe in one or the other superstition. Superstitions date back from Ancient Egypt and it is basically created by religions and legends. Primitive people were so obsessed with god that they try satisfying the gods with offerings, prayers, sacrifices, etc. Thus, it is fear which gave rise to superstition.