Are you superstitious?

What is Superstition ?

Superstition is defined in a number of ways. The majority of academics concur that superstitions are beliefs or actions that defy accepted social standards in a particular community. It suggests that superstitious behaviour cannot be understood or justified by religious convictions, which are typically not viewed as illogical by people of a given society (Campbell, 1996). Superstitions have a cultural basis and vary from country to country.

For instance, Simmons and Schindler (2002) show that prices ending in the digit 8 are frequently found in China due to a widespread belief that the number 8 brings good fortune, prosperity, and happiness.Superstitions have a cultural basis and vary from country to country. For instance, Simmons and Schindler (2002) show that prices ending in the digit 8 are particularly popular in China because of the widespread idea that the number 8 brings good fortune, prosperity, and happiness there. In contrast, because the number 4 considered unlucky, prices that finish in that digit are underrepresented. In studies, Kramer and Block (2008) found that Taiwanese customers would choose to purchase a radio that cost 888 dollars over one that cost 777 dollars.

Superstition is defined as “beliefs that are inconsistent with the known laws of nature or with what is generally considered rational in a society”. The purpose of the current research is to clarify the definition and the dimensions of superstition and to propose the adequate measurement scale. We also discuss the usefulness of superstition in order to better understand how consumer decision making can sometimes be irrational.

Psychologists and anthropologists contend that people who practise superstition do so to deal with bad luck and uncertainty as well as to make sense of a complicated environment. According to other studies, superstitious beliefs might persist if there is little chance that they will be disproven. A person might never recognise that superstition is false and continue to practise it if there is always a risk of a terrible outcome when adhering to it and a chance of a good one when not. The world has undergone many changes and developments in the fields of science and technology, but people’s superstitious beliefs persist in society despite this.

Science behind Superstition

Superstitions are imposed beliefs or, occasionally, widely held, erroneous views of reality. Practically speaking, the majority of superstitions are nothing more than rules and traditions that were created by our predecessors, who passed along knowledge based on their experiences. These superstitions become a part of people’s daily lives as a kind of caution or as a strategy to develop a habit for the good of the community. As a result, over time, these rationales from science and practise were perverted to create undesirable societal standards.

Here are some Superstitious beliefs in India and their scientific reasons

• On specific days, avoid hair washing or trimming – There is no validity to the belief that washing or cutting hair on particular days, such as Tuesdays or Thursdays, is unlucky because it was a water management method. Moreover, barbers get a holiday at such times. People don’t cut hair on those days simply to give them a holiday.
• After attending a funeral, take a shower – In the past, bathing was required after attending a burial service, but nowadays, this is not the case because our forefathers did not have access to smallpox, hepatitis, or other life-threatening illness immunisations. Thus they devised this bathing procedure to protect themselves from contamination by the dead body.
• Inauspicious: if a lizard falls on a person – The lizard releases poisonous chemicals from its body to defend itself from enemies, which is why it is believed to be unlucky. If the chemical splashes onto a human body or food, it will inevitably contaminate it. As a result, bathing occurs when someone is affected.
• Peepal trees have ghosts living there – Even today, this notion is prevalent. The scientific explanation for this, however, is that while during the daytime the trees release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide, at night it is the opposite. As a result, sleeping under a tree might make you feel heavy in the fist and smothered, which is connected to the sensation of being possessed by some ghosts.
• Not To Sleep Facing The North – Most likely, our elders were aware of the connection between the magnetic fields of the Earth and the human body. They established the custom of sleeping with our heads pointed south in order to prevent the negative health consequences that an asymmetry in the Earth’s magnetic field would have on our blood pressure and other conditions. Sadly, it has come down to the belief that says we will die if we sleep with our heads in the north.