For my groups project we were thinking about conducting experiments revolving around superstition and people's reactions to classic icons of superstition such as black cats or breaking mirrors. One type of superstition that we had mentioned was sports rituals. Many athletes have numerous habits and pre-game rituals which they feel are necessary to preform if they want to succeed. This can range from which socks they wear to which music they listen to or they can be as bizarre as convincing themselves that they are the flash before a race. This article gives examples such as these and comes up with interesting answers as to why athletes often behave this way. One reason that Dr. Lustberg (the author of the article) gives is that athletes often use superstition as an outlet to cope with the pressure they may feel to succeed from their coaches, parents and peers. Athletes are constantly put in situations of strain and pressure even though many people consider their professions to be luxurious. It is interesting to see how athletes often displace their stress in very odd ways.
http://www.psychologyofsports.com/guest/superstitions3.htm
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Superstition has pretty much been around us all our lives. Don't open an umbrella in the house. Throw salt over your shoulder. Etc etc. One famous superstitious person in sports is former Red Sox SS Nomar Garciaparra. If you've watched him, you'll know in between each pitch, he does this thing where he taps his feet and adjusts his wristbands and batting gloves. Most people relate superstition in sports to him because what he does is so frequent and so it draws a lot of attention to him. Also taking a quote from "http://digilib.bu.edu:8080/dspace/handle/2144/149" -
"Superstition has its source in an assumption that life is stacked against us. We live in a hostile environment; the world is out to get us. Thus every individual needs to take every precaution imaginable to survive, much less to succeed. The very meaning of the term from which we get our word superstition, supersisto, is “to stand in terror of the deity.”
Also, as an athlete yourself, do you have any superstitious rituals?
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