Friday the Thirteenth

Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition

A book by Stuart A. Vyse

Written by Nancy Beardsley
Edited by swaney
Washington
June 9, 1997

Edited for the Web, newsgroups, and posted by Dr. Jai Maharaj

Announcer
     This week is Friday the Thirteenth, and many Americans will be going out of their way to avoid unnecessary risks. The notion that Friday the Thirteenth is an unlucky day is one of many popular superstitions in the United States, along with the idea that it's bad luck to walk under a ladder, or good luck to find a four leaf clover. How those ideas take hold, and how they affect human behavior, are explored in a new book by Stuart A. Vyse (vice) entitled Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition." VOA's [...] reports:

Narrator
     A recent public opinion poll showed that twenty five percent of all Americans consider themselves at least somewhat superstitious. But Stuart Vyse, who teaches psychology at Connecticut College, believes the number could be much higher. He says there's a stigma attached to superstition in many cultures, including the United States, so people may be embarrassed to admit what they'll do to secure good luck -- or avoid misfortune. And he believes the 1990s are a particularly superstitious time in America:

Tape  cut one  Vyse (:26)
     "I think you could make a case for there having been anxious times at various points in history, but with the coming global economy and people changing jobs rapidly, downsizing of companies, there is some anxiety about what the future will bring, and in some cases people are grasping at a number of ideas they perhaps wouldn't under other circumstances because of that."

Narrator
     In Believing in Magic, Stuart Vyse examines the many factors, including feelings of helplessness, fear or depression, that promote superstition. He believes certain groups tend to be especially superstitious, like actors, gamblers and athletes. People in those groups feel intense pressure to do well, the stakes can be high, and a strong element of uncertainty governs the outcome. Stuart Vyse says one of the most superstitious people he's come across is baseball player Wade Boggs, a star hitter for the New York Yankees:

Tape  cut two  Vyse (:42)
     "He believes that eating chicken before a game will help him hit, and he has in fact eaten chicken every day for almost 20 years. He's so experienced at preparing chicken that he wrote a cookbook of chicken recipes. But he also starts his grounder drill at exactly a certain time, and he steps on the field line as he goes onto the field but never when he leaves the field. When he steps into the batter's box he writes the Hebrew letter tchai (kie - rhymes with lie) in the dirt with his bat. He just has many, many superstitions and rituals that he undergoes prior to batting."

Narrator
     Stuart Vyse says highly successful athletes tend to be more superstitious than the unsuccessful, because their lucky charms have worked for them so often in the past. Some research also suggests that superstitions are more common among women than men, among the less well educated, and among those who don't belong to a traditional religious group. But there are plenty of examples that defy the statistics. A few years ago, a group of celebrated American journalists were sent a chain letter, with instructions to make several copies and send them to other people for good luck -- or risk suffering a terrible disaster:

Tape  cut three  Vyse (:22)
     "Because they were journalists it got into the news. Several of them, despite being men in particular who in their profession might be considered to be skeptical and very hard nosed, many of these men, people like Arthur Sulzberger, junior, who now is the publisher of the New York Times did in fact copy the letter and pass it on."

Narrator
     Superstitions often start in childhood, says Stuart Vyse, when they're passed along by parents or friends:

Tape  cut four  Vyse (:35)
     "I think that the influence of other people on us as we are growing up is very powerful. the stress we are under from particular events in our lives can also encourage superstition. Also, an important factor is that we sometimes don't understand the mathematics of life. We tend to think that a coincidence when it occurs is very unusual and therefore must have a special explanation. And in many cases if we understood the math involved we would realize the coincidence was not that unusual."

Narrator
     Stuart Vyse believes most superstitions are harmless and can sometimes be beneficial, offering a sense of control in stressful situations. But they can occasionally be dangerous, leading people to lose money through compulsive gambling, or seek magical medical cures instead of consulting a doctor. And as a scholar who claims to have no superstitious beliefs himself, the author would like to see more people substitute rational thinking for good luck rituals:

Tape  cut five  Vyse (:21)
     "In some cases you might just have to have the courage to stop and try not performing one of your superstitions if this is what you do. In addition, I think we do need to study more science and mathematics. People who are more educated in the sciences are less likely to be superstitious."

Narrator
     So what should the superstition-prone be doing on Friday the Thirteenth? Stuart Vyse offers advice some people may consider just too risky. He urges them to go about their normal routines, take no special measures to avoid bad luck and see what happens.

09-Jun-97 3:12 pm EDT (1912 UTC) nnnn report 7-16990. Source: Voice of America

Please note: The use of scientific astrology systems such as Jyotish, Vedic astrology is not superstitious. - Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi, Vedic Astrologer