To perceive order in coincidences and unexpected situations, people often resort to superstitions to maintain a sense of comfort and find explanations for strange and unusual occurrences in life.
For University of Northern Iowa psychology professor Carolyn Hildebrandt, the psychological breakdown behind superstitions stems from people’s individual beliefs.
“Superstitions are a subset of paranormal beliefs that are pragmatic,” Hildebrandt said. “They’re ways of controlling the uncontrollable in our lives.”
However, superstitions normally do not just appear in people’s lives overnight.
“There are three basic ways people acquire superstitions,” psychologist Stuart Vyse said. “One is through being directly taught.”
This references how people are taught superstitions as they grow up, like how kids are told that stepping on the cracks breaks their mother’s back.
“Superstitions can also be learned through observation and imitation,” Vyse said.
Humans tend to copy behaviors, so when one person knocks on wood, that can create a chain reaction among observers.
The other way that superstitions can come into play is through “accidental conditioning.”
“These are personal superstitions that no one else may even have,” Vyse said. “You hear about these kinds of superstitions in sports. Someone might have lucky socks or just some sort of ritual.”
Although they may seem nonsensical, superstitions can do good. “Some superstitions can actually help people,” Vyse said. “It helps calm them down.”
According to Khado Tsephel from The Science Survey, following superstitious practices gives people “peace of mind.”
“The world is a mysterious place with much uncertainty, and following certain superstitions normally doesn’t require too much time or effort,” Tsephel said.
Google Arts & Culture writer Andrew Mulvania said that some common superstitions, like spilling the salt and breaking a mirror, have historical explanations as to how they came to be seen as unlucky.
Stemming from European and Christian beliefs, spilling salt was seen as bad luck because Judas Iscariot, Jesus’s betrayer, is seen doing it in Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting, “The Last Supper.”
Khaleel Hayes of Denver Center for the Performing Arts attributes the ritual of throwing salt over your left shoulder to the idea of counteracting, or “warding off evil,” as it is believed “[the Devil] sits on the left [shoulder] while an angel sits on the right.”
There is more to superstitions than what meets the eye.
For example, the walking under ladders superstition has a connection to the Holy Trinity.
“The triangle, with its three sides, came to be regarded as sacred,” Mulvania said. “A ladder forms a triangle, so, naturally, to walk under that ladder would destroy the sanctity of the Trinity.”
Religious backing is a common theme among superstitions.
For instance, black cats were thought to be involved in the practice of witchcraft, with the color black having “long been associated with evil and death.”
Whether you believe in superstitions or not, they have been around for thousands of years and likely will continue to be a part of society as we know it.