Why are we still using charms, amulets, superstition and magic, when the more we know scientifically about the world around us and the physics of the universe, you would think we would set less stock in these magical beliefs. I have found some articles in psychology and scientific journals relating to the use of superstitions and charms, also many books on the subject, which research not only the prevalence of uses of “magic”in our society but also the uses and effectiveness. It seems when there is an increase in stress and uncertainty, there is an increase in superstitious behaviour. The sections of society that are the most likely to use lucky items of clothing, charms or ritual behaviour are sportspeople, students and performing artists. Where a lot of people would deny that they are superstitious in any way, they will then admit to having either a lucky piece of clothing or underwear that they wear to job interviews, important presentations, or other such stressful events or a lucky charm to carry or wear or will admit to knocking on wood or resisting walking under ladders. Time online did a feature on soldiers in Afghanistan and the charms they carry into battle at: http://time.com/3531149/veterans-good-luck-charms/
US Army sergeant hols dogtags that his grandfather wore in 2nd world war.
US Army Spc. has a receipt from a burrito eating competition back home which he keeps in his wallet
US Army sergeant has a scorched teddy sent by his wife. He and the teddy survived a roadside bomb together, so he takes it everywhere with him.
Elle Magazine held an article on the good luck charms that celebrities carry, Cameron Diaz has a necklace given by a friend to ward off ageing. Steve Tyler has a necklace of racoons teeth for luck, Benicio del Toro has a ring with wood in the centre so he can knock on wood anytime.
Research from the University of Cologne did several experiments, using lucky charms, golf balls which the participants were told were lucky and using a superstitious act of keeping fingers crossed for someone. They found that all of these things work, the subjects using the good luck superstitions had increased self-efficacy and so tried harder, concentrated more, were more relaxed and performed better. Other experiments have proven these superstitions to work, but not looked at the mechanics behind it in as much detail as this one. Damisch, L., Stoberock, B., Mussweiler, T., 2010. Keep Your Fingers Crossed! How Superstition Improves Performance. Psychological Science 21, 1014–1020. Available at: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/21/7/1014
In “Child and Family Behaviour”, Vol4, issue 2-3 1983, Teodoro AyIlon, Cynthia Kuhlman & William J. Warzak did some research on children age between 8 and 11 with behavioural disorders. They had a specialised resource room, tailor made for them, in which, when given academic work to do, they performed 95% of it. When transferred to other classrooms, they performed only 60%, however, when given a good luck charm in the resource room, then taking that with them when transferred to other classrooms, they performed over 90% of their task.
Pik Ying Chan wrote a thesis, available at: http://commons.ln.edu.hk/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=socsci_fyp to test a hypothesis that rather than a placebo effect, a lucky item actually has a precebo effect and just by possessing the charm bracelets, which was used in the experiment subjects of the experiment felt luckier, even before performing a task which they were told would “activate the lucky bracelet or actually using it. Control subjects did not feel this. However, the subjects who felt the good effects of the bracelets did not show a tendency to more reckless behaviour towards luck dependent activities such as gambling.
In conclusion, talismans, charms and superstitions can make us feel more secure, more confident and more in control of stressful situations, therefore keeping us more focussed on our goal, rather than all the outside influences that could affect us and can improve our performance.
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