01-31-2024, 06:22 PM
Full article title: "Men may gamble more money after a positive fortunetelling -- even when they don't believe it."
Heck of a title, right? (Here's the article: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/weird-sc...-rcna46549 -- and here's the paper in question: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/articl...ne.0273233)
So what they're claiming is that if you put a fortuneteller in a casino and offered free fortunes, men would be more likely to gamble more money after you give them a positive reading. If they actually believed in fortunetelling they would gamble even more money (probably no surprise there.)
Women, on the other hand, seem to be unaffected (as far as gambling goes) by fortunetelling. The sample size was 266 people; so a relatively small sample, though adequate for an initial investigation. At this point it's hard to tell how culturally bound this is. In China, there's certainly a bias for some numbers (eight is very lucky, four is very unlucky).
However, as the original paper says, there may actually be some benefits from superstition, particularly when things are tough.
An interesting quote: He also noted that fortunetelling is somewhat different than some other types of superstition because it occurs before the event it supposedly foretells — the gambling, in this case — whereas other superstitions are often applied at the same time as the events they supposedly influence, like throwing spilled salt over your shoulder.
I tend to analyze (over-analyze, sometimes, as I'm sure nobody here would be surprised to find out) situations and get uncomfortable when I have to do a "best guess" type of response, particularly if the results involve loads of money (which is why I dithered for years about getting solar for the house.) But when I get into one of "those" moods or get stuck with something, I do admit to pulling out a few charms to see if I can boost my brain into being more productive.
Do you ever make use of superstitions?
Heck of a title, right? (Here's the article: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/weird-sc...-rcna46549 -- and here's the paper in question: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/articl...ne.0273233)
So what they're claiming is that if you put a fortuneteller in a casino and offered free fortunes, men would be more likely to gamble more money after you give them a positive reading. If they actually believed in fortunetelling they would gamble even more money (probably no surprise there.)
Women, on the other hand, seem to be unaffected (as far as gambling goes) by fortunetelling. The sample size was 266 people; so a relatively small sample, though adequate for an initial investigation. At this point it's hard to tell how culturally bound this is. In China, there's certainly a bias for some numbers (eight is very lucky, four is very unlucky).
However, as the original paper says, there may actually be some benefits from superstition, particularly when things are tough.
An interesting quote: He also noted that fortunetelling is somewhat different than some other types of superstition because it occurs before the event it supposedly foretells — the gambling, in this case — whereas other superstitions are often applied at the same time as the events they supposedly influence, like throwing spilled salt over your shoulder.
I tend to analyze (over-analyze, sometimes, as I'm sure nobody here would be surprised to find out) situations and get uncomfortable when I have to do a "best guess" type of response, particularly if the results involve loads of money (which is why I dithered for years about getting solar for the house.) But when I get into one of "those" moods or get stuck with something, I do admit to pulling out a few charms to see if I can boost my brain into being more productive.
Do you ever make use of superstitions?
