The Degree of Superstitious Beliefs among British and Ghanaian Student Athletes

Abstract

One major limitation to the literature on superstition in sports is that researchers attempt to measure only negative superstitious beliefs. Yet to date, little is known about types of superstitions or the psycho-social differences between such superstitions and their consequences. The purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence and demographic variations in types of superstitious beliefs among British and Ghanaian student athletes. The participants were 177 British and 172 Ghanaian student- athletes. There were significant main effects of gender and nationality on both positive and negative superstitious beliefs. For positive superstitious beliefs, significant main effects were observed for both gender, F (1, 364) = 43.27, p<.05, ƞp2 = 0.11, and nationality, F (1,364) = 162.12, p<.05, ƞp2 = 0.31. For negative superstitious beliefs, significant main effects were observed for both gender, F (1, 364) = 25.76, p<.05, ƞp2 = 0.66, and nationality, F (1,364) = 102.41, p<.05, ƞp2 = 0.22. The findings offer some suggestions concerning the social context relativity of types of superstition. Superstitions may serve as either adaptive or maladaptive to those who believe in them, based on the type of beliefs.