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Superstition and Gender: Are Men or Women More Likely to Hold to Superstitions?

    Superstition and Gender: Are Men or Women More Likely to Hold to Superstitions?

    Despite the droves of free information outlets and advances in technology that we enjoy every day, superstitions remain big drivers of many peoples’ activities and actions. Well-known sayings and mantras, as well as some particular life experiences, continue to govern how people act in certain situations. However, it’s not the same for everyone, and as research has found, one’s superstitions can even depend on your gender.

    Contents hide
    1 Crazy ways superstitions come through
    2 Are men or women more likely to be superstitious?

    Crazy ways superstitions come through

    Perhaps the weirdest ways in which superstitions come through are in realms where luck is the perceived driver of outcomes. Luck, in itself, is a superstitious belief, but many think that doing certain things or experiencing certain outcomes can turn the fates of luck. Among the most common in the randomized activity of gambling, for example, are wearing red to the casino as that’s what winners do, or the ever-prevalent lucky charms.

    Gambling games at casinos are very heavily influenced by randomization, if not entirely, but these superstitions draw people to certain games and behaviors. For example, with the casino offers at Paddy Power, anyone can grab 50 free spins and 100 more from a £10 deposit for use on Daily Jackpot games. Among the most popular of these are the Good Luck Clusterbuster and Zaida’s Fortune, as they feature Irish lucky charms and fortune-telling tarot cards.

    As well as this, games with the “New” label also become of particular interest. This plays into the superstition that new slot machines could improve one’s chances of winning. On some platforms, promos are created around new game releases, but this is quite rare. Other than these kinds of bonuses, new slots online remain as randomly decided as they always are, only ever swung by their RTP and volatility ratings.

    Are men or women more likely to be superstitious?

    For the most part, the likelihood of someone being superstitious is affected by sex, but also by situation. One study conducted by the BPS found that lucky seat and unlucky seat numbers influenced the confidence of test-takers in a controlled environment. However, men would become overconfident when in a lucky number, while women were affected by sitting in an unlucky number.

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    However, in a look at American subjects, as relayed by this Statista chart, it was found that the most commonly-held superstitions were more prevalent among women. Finding a penny being good luck, bad to see the bride before the wedding, and knocking on wood for good luck were all more commonly held among females. Men only dominated in this research for 13 being an unlucky number and seven being a lucky number – further playing into the gambling superstitions.

    Drawing from research by the Erasmus University which has participants fill in a questionnaire about their inclinations to take risks with their money in the future, men proved more superstitious. In the data, it was found that even though most don’t identify as superstitious, most showed some inclination toward being superstitious, with men being more encouraged by positive potential outlooks and thus more willing to embark on risky pursuits.

    When it comes to numbers and games, men tend to side with their superstitions more naturally than women. However, for general life superstitions and commonly-held beliefs, women tend to be more superstition-driven.

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