These are all examples of superstitions or what Stuart Vyse, PhD, and the author of Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition, calls magical thinking. More than half of Americans admitted ...

A recent study provides important new insights into the psychology of superstition. Considerable work over the years has examined the causes and characteristics of superstitious beliefs (e.g ...

Step on a crack, break your mother’s back. Don’t walk under a ladder. Terrible things happen on Friday the 13th (besides low-budget slasher films). Where do superstitions come from and why do ...

Superstitions, rituals, and symbolic gestures all feed into a larger psychological need: identity reinforcement. In a fast-changing world, football offers something enduring. A fan’s identity doesn’t ...

According to Psychology Today, being superstitious means behaving in a way that is either "based on fear of the unknown and/or faith in magic or luck." Superstitions can be culturally informed ...

El Otmani said while this is a pretty strong superstition, there’s some real relationship psychology at play in the background. “If you’re in a relationship with someone, and they’re going ...

In the competitive realm of sports where every move can make a difference, athletes often turn to rituals and superstitions as a means of finding comfort and boosting performance. Dr. Carly Anderson, ...

An article in the 2018 International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences states, “Superstition has its roots in our ...