A Comprehensive Analysis of Psychological Determinants of Socio-Demographic Variability in Superstition Endorsement.

Abstract

We explored the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and superstition endorsement, distinguishing between the practice of and belief in superstitions, as well as between positive and negative superstitions. We examined specifically whether analytic thinking style, anxiety, and intolerance of uncertainty account for socio-demographic variability in these dimensions of endorsement and to what extent stress from macro-level threatening circumstances moderates these effects. Two pre-registered studies conducted in Israel (N = 751) and the United States (N = 566) revealed that whereas relations of superstition endorsement with socio-demographic characteristics varied across samples, those with the psychological factors were quite robust. In both samples, analytic thinking style consistently mediated these relationships, intolerance of uncertainty mediated some of them, while anxiety mediated none. Experienced stress positively correlated with superstition endorsement, but evidence for its moderating role on the observed indirect effects was weak. These findings provide insights into the psychological and contextual factors shaping superstition endorsement.