Explanations For Superstitious Behaviour And Magical Thinking Flashcards
What does superstitions mean?
Beliefs or behaviours employed during times of uncertainty, avoiding back luck or to bring good luck.
Examples: wearing charm, avoiding a black cat crossing your path, opening an umbrella indoors
What are the similarities between superstitious beliefs and magical thinking?
They both assumed a causal-effect link between two events.
They both defy the scientific laws of how nature works.
Viewed as irrational thoughts of beliefs
What does the behaviourist explanation say when explaining superstition behaviour?
Skinner (1948) says that superstitious behaviour is learnt through operant conditions.
Superstitious behaviour is learnt through outcome -
- it is more likely to be repeated if the outcome was favourable (positive reinforcement)
- a student who wears his favourite stripy socks and scores well in an exam will repeat this, by wearing the stripy socks every time he has an exam (misattribution)
- superstitious behaviour may be repeated in order to avoid something negative (negative reinforcement)
- avoid crossing the path of a black cat to prevent a misfortune of to reducing anxiety
- superstition may initially be learned when a behaviour is accidentally reinforced, resulting in the belief of a cause-effect link between the two (adventitious reinforcement)
- wearing the stripy socks was the reason for good grades in an exam
- operant conditioning ignore cultural superstitions as it only explains how an individual may personally acquire superstitious behaviour but fails to explain the collective belief in superstitions, which demonstrates that such beliefs are socially transmitted by culture as well.
What does the psychological function theory say when explaining superstitious behaviour?
Superstitious beliefs often develop when people have a need for control in their lives, especially in times of uncertainty, anxiety and stress.
A way to gain sense of control is through superstitious acts attempting to “bring good luck” and influence the outcome of the event”
Langer (1977) argues that superstitious behaviour performs two functions:
1) Illusion of control - allows people to wrongly assume that through their superstitious beliefs, they can somehow bring good luck, influencing the outcome of an uncontrollable event
2) psychological function - illusion of control gives people the belief that they can control events, which in turn helps them to cope emotionally with the anxiety and stress of the uncertainty a situation can bring
* Whitson and Galinsky (2008) conducted an experimental study to demonstrate how the lack of control can lead to superstitious behaviour, and found that those who were made to feel they had no control were more likely to express greater belief that a person’s success was related to the superstitious act - than those that recalled an experience where they had full control
What does Piaget say when explaining magical thinking?
He says that magical thinking develops in children during the early stages of their cognitive development.
He uses the term “magical thinking” to describe faulty thinking in a child when scientific concepts are yet to be grasped.
Two types of faulty thinking that can lead to magical thinking are “animism” and “nominal realism” which occur during the “preoperational stage” (2-7 years)
What does Piaget (1951) say Animism is?
Refers to giving inanimate objects human characteristics such as emotions, thought and behaviour.
Piaget (1951) says the development of magical thinking is the inability of young children to understand their thoughts are separate from the physical world resulting them to view the world in animistic terms.
E.g. A child believing that their teddy wants to be covered up before it can sleep so it doesn’t feel cold.
With maturity, magical thinking is eventually replaced by reason and logical thinking towards the world. However, Piaget argues that it never really disappears from childhood, and adults will often resort to illogical thinking at times.
This may occur in adults who do not acquire scientific knowledge
Linderman and Aarnio (2007) -
50 million Americans believe in magical thinking in the form of astrology.
What does Piaget say nominal realism is?
This is when children cannot separate or confuses an object from the name given to the object.
They assume the name and the thoughts associated with the label is an integral part of the object, which can influence how they view reality
For example, the average 5y/o when asked which word is longer (snake or caterpillar), would answer snake.
Nominal realism continue to be present in adults which can lead to magical thinking
- Rozin et Al (1986) demonstrated nominal realism in adults by carrying out a study on university students and found that when requested to drink sugary water, they were reluctant to drink from the glass that came from the bottle labelled poison even though it was only sugar - shows irrational thinking continues into adulthood which can influence behaviour
What does the evolutionary theory suggest when explaining magical thinking?
Magical thinking evolved as an adaptive function from our ancestral past to deal with persistent stressors in the evolutionary environment in which our ancestors lived.
Uncontrollable threat led to an increase in anxiety and stress, which would in turn lead to the physiological weakening of the body and impair memory functions - decreasing the chances of survival
This was dealt with by our ancestors resorting to magical thinking as a “coping mechanism”
Markle (2010) - magical thinking would have given the feeling of control reducing anxiety and stress and thus increase chances of survival
What does magical thinking mean?
A belief in the supernatural rather than accepting scientific explanations/evidence
The belief that a person’s thoughts, words or actions and even objects have supernatural qualities
Examples:
Ghosts, spirits, demons, ESP, PK
