Do Superstitious Rituals Work; Or Just Illusions?

Many people feel strongly that superstitious rituals do work. These people usually have some ritual or tradition that they believe helps them achieve or win something. For example: when someone uses the same color pen every time to take a test, because they have taken a test before and passed with that color pen. These rituals continue because sometimes, by coincidence, the outcome is good or the same. B.F. Skinner (1948) demonstrated this by using …

…because people tend to have certain beliefs and superstitions or see things a certain way because of their environment and family or genetics. We believe so strongly about our own beliefs that we do not feel that they are superstitions or illusions. Superstitions and illusions are beliefs that can not be proven. Many things in our life such as our religious beliefs can not be proven as a fact, but we still believe in them.