There are people who do not declare superstitiousbut, nevertheless, they cannot help feeling a slight fear if an important meeting, an exam, or the birth of their child falls on the horizon. Tuesday 13. It’s not for less because it’s a date loaded with superstition for various reasons. What makes us fall into superstition? Is there a psychology behind?
The truth is, yes. Psychology can explain superstitions in general and of course also those surrounding Tuesday the 13th. In fact, although superstitions can sometimes have a certain Placebo effect, relatively positive, Tuesday, the 13th and the rest of the days listed as bad omens have quite the opposite effect. Doing important tasks during these days can cause unnecessary anxiety and bad results associated with the phenomenon of self-fulfilling prophecy.
We will see all this, but we will not leave aside the origin of the superstitions around Tuesday 13. And, in fact, we should talk about plural superstitionssince they are around Tuesday as a day of the week, and around 13 as a number.
Why is Tuesday the 13th considered unlucky?
In Spain Day of bad luck predominantly is Tuesday 13. In other cultures, the numerical day is the same, but it is located on Friday.
Let’s move on to the Spanish case. As you know, in the past, Roman culture had a great influence in this country. Actually, they gave names to the days of our week and, by the way, designated Tuesday as the date of a bad omen.
This is because it was named after Mars, god of war. According to the Romans, Tuesday was a good day to fight, as the god helped the warriors win. However, since everything does not happen in life, combat luck was obtained by extracting it from other less important tasks. Therefore, it was not a good day, for example, to start a business or get married.
Later, in average age, now without the influence of the Romans, it was said that some battles between Christians and Muslims were lost (for Christians) on Tuesday, so that the hatred for this day of the week did not disappear. This is how the famous saying arose that “don’t get married on Tuesday, don’t get up” and everyone began to fear this day of the week.
On the other hand, 13 has always been considered an unlucky number for various reasons. For example, in Last supper, from which the betrayal and subsequent death of Jesus Christ occurred, there were 13 people. There were also 13 evil spirits jewish kabbalah. And, in Apocalypse Bible chapter 13 is the one that gives way to the Antichrist and Death. Come on, the number brings them together, historically and culturally speaking.
For this reason, Tuesday the 13th brings together the worst of each house. Superstitious people hastened to consider this day dangerous, despite the fact that, if you think coldly, this day is no different from any other.
What does psychology say about superstitions?
People since ancient times tend to perform ritualswhich in some cases have become superstitions, while in others they have not. The difference between any ritual and superstition is that the latter are associated with a belief in bad luck. For example, many athletes perform rituals during enter the field of play. In some cases, they do it on the advice of their trainers because it helps them concentrate and focus. relax anxietylike a mantra. This is not necessarily a superstition. On the other hand, if they start to think that the day they don’t, they will lose, then the ritual has become a superstition.
In fact, to some extent it can be compared with obsessive-compulsive disorder. People who suffer from this often have compulsive behaviors that they have to satisfy or else they think something is going to go wrong. The difference is that it is also usually accompanied reflections and intrusive thoughts which are not found in punctual superstitions.
According to some psychologists, superstitions can have a certain placebo effect. For example, returning to the topic of athletes, perhaps if they follow their rituals they will play better because they convince themselves that everything will be fine and enter the playing field more relaxed.
However, superstitions can also be very negative. Actually, Tuesday the 13th is a good example. Superstitious people tend avoid important tasks that day, but sometimes they don’t have a choice. For this reason, they approach them with fear and what is known in psychology as a self-fulfilling prophecy may occur. They are so afraid that something will go wrong that they do it unintentionally. For example, if it is an exam, they may not concentrate on answering the questions correctly and fail. Not because it was Tuesday the 13th, and not even because the test was difficult. Just because his mind boycotted them because of superstition.
With all this, we must understand that Tuesday the 13th is another day and that if something goes wrong, it could go wrong on Monday the 12th. . And even more so the day when we think about them.
Source: Hiper Textual
