Paul J. Silvia , Sara J. Crasson , Gil Greengross , Gustav Kuhn
{"title":"不仅仅是一个魔术吗?探索观众对魔术师表演的超自然归因","authors":"Paul J. Silvia , Sara J. Crasson , Gil Greengross , Gustav Kuhn","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113306","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Performing magicians have long believed that some audience members attribute their magical effects to supernatural methods—to their use of “real magic”. In two samples of adults (<em>n</em> = 412 and 292), we explored personality traits and broader beliefs that might predict supernatural attributions for performance magic. Supernatural attributions were uncommon—many respondents wholly rejected the possibility that magicians' magic was sometimes real—but nevertheless highly variable. In Study 1, a greater belief that magic tricks at least sometimes involve supernatural powers was associated with relatively higher extraversion, higher neuroticism, and lower openness to experience. In Study 2, random forests suggested that supernatural magic attributions were embedded in a family of paranormal and conspiratorial beliefs, particularly beliefs in psychic powers (reading and influencing thoughts) and precognition (perceiving the future). In both samples, gender, age, and education had small and inconsistent effects, but people who enjoyed performance magic were more likely to endorse supernatural attributions. Taken together, the findings suggest some truth to performing magicians' suspicions and shed some light on who is more likely to explain magic tricks using supernatural causes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"246 ","pages":"Article 113306"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"More than just a magic trick? Exploring an audience's supernatural attributions for magicians' performances\",\"authors\":\"Paul J. Silvia , Sara J. Crasson , Gil Greengross , Gustav Kuhn\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113306\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<div><div>Performing magicians have long believed that some audience members attribute their magical effects to supernatural methods—to their use of “real magic”. In two samples of adults (<em>n</em> = 412 and 292), we explored personality traits and broader beliefs that might predict supernatural attributions for performance magic. Supernatural attributions were uncommon—many respondents wholly rejected the possibility that magicians' magic was sometimes real—but nevertheless highly variable. In Study 1, a greater belief that magic tricks at least sometimes involve supernatural powers was associated with relatively higher extraversion, higher neuroticism, and lower openness to experience. In Study 2, random forests suggested that supernatural magic attributions were embedded in a family of paranormal and conspiratorial beliefs, particularly beliefs in psychic powers (reading and influencing thoughts) and precognition (perceiving the future). In both samples, gender, age, and education had small and inconsistent effects, but people who enjoyed performance magic were more likely to endorse supernatural attributions. Taken together, the findings suggest some truth to performing magicians' suspicions and shed some light on who is more likely to explain magic tricks using supernatural causes.</div></div>\",\"PeriodicalId\":48467,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Personality and Individual Differences\",\"volume\":\"246 \",\"pages\":\"Article 113306\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.6000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-06-06\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Personality and Individual Differences\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"102\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886925002685\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"心理学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Personality and Individual Differences","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886925002685","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
More than just a magic trick? Exploring an audience's supernatural attributions for magicians' performances
Performing magicians have long believed that some audience members attribute their magical effects to supernatural methods—to their use of “real magic”. In two samples of adults (n = 412 and 292), we explored personality traits and broader beliefs that might predict supernatural attributions for performance magic. Supernatural attributions were uncommon—many respondents wholly rejected the possibility that magicians' magic was sometimes real—but nevertheless highly variable. In Study 1, a greater belief that magic tricks at least sometimes involve supernatural powers was associated with relatively higher extraversion, higher neuroticism, and lower openness to experience. In Study 2, random forests suggested that supernatural magic attributions were embedded in a family of paranormal and conspiratorial beliefs, particularly beliefs in psychic powers (reading and influencing thoughts) and precognition (perceiving the future). In both samples, gender, age, and education had small and inconsistent effects, but people who enjoyed performance magic were more likely to endorse supernatural attributions. Taken together, the findings suggest some truth to performing magicians' suspicions and shed some light on who is more likely to explain magic tricks using supernatural causes.
期刊介绍:
Personality and Individual Differences is devoted to the publication of articles (experimental, theoretical, review) which aim to integrate as far as possible the major factors of personality with empirical paradigms from experimental, physiological, animal, clinical, educational, criminological or industrial psychology or to seek an explanation for the causes and major determinants of individual differences in concepts derived from these disciplines. The editors are concerned with both genetic and environmental causes, and they are particularly interested in possible interaction effects.