‘Do not move from the seat!’: Can superstition help?

It was December 13, 2022. A chilly evening. I was forced (read threatened) to not move an inch from my seat on a couch during a football game. Argentina were playing Croatia. I was watching it with three Argentinians. I was not allowed to move an inch for the entire game, which Argentina eventually won 3-0. I was reminded of a similar story of Sachin Tendulkar refusing to allow Virender Sehwag to move from his place during the World Cup finals against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede in 2011. There are many other examples. Serena Williams famously wore the same pair of socks for all matches in a tournament. Tiger Woods only wears a red polo shirt on a Sunday at tournaments.

I am sure you are reminded of someone’s superstition as you read this. Or, perhaps, of your own. My weirdest one is listening to I’m leaving on a jet plane by John Denver as my plane approaches the runway for takeoff. Superstitions are often meaningless, sometimes funny, and usually highly protected. So why do we have them? Why do athletes who sweat for every 0.1% performance gain believe in them?

I have worked with plenty of athletes as a sports and performance psychologist, and believe me when I tell you: every single one has some ritual or superstition. I have worked with a few performance artistes; they too have them. There is some research on this, too. Now, if everyone is doing this, clearly it must lead to something good. Does it?

A superstition or ritual in sport is a certain belief that if something is not done, it will lead to negative performance. That is, things will go badly if I do not do this. Individuals give a certain amount of power to influence the performance that they will be capable of delivering. Typically, these superstitions initially happen by accident and are closely followed by a good outcome. Within our brain, we associate the two things and establish a cause-and-effect. This then becomes ‘Ritual Commitment’, where this superstition is actively incorporated into the individual's preparation for something. The athlete does this all the time, not just when the game is important. To put it simply, it becomes as much a part of them as a stretch before a match or a warm-up before competition.

Psychological advantage of superstition

Superstitions are fascinating because they remain steadfastly in culture and in the human psyche, as consistent to our memory as the seasons. Even in the analytics and data-informed world of high performance sport, superstitions survive. Why? Barry Schwartz conducted experiments to shine some light on this. Intelligent university students would make up fanciful theories when rewards were achieved, linking the reward to theories similar to superstitions.

Think of superstitions like your small protective habits. They are made by you and for your benefit. They make you comfortable. Once you are comfortable, you can perform

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Think of the time you wore a pair of jeans, and went on a great date with someone. They become your ‘lucky’ pair of jeans. The same thing happens in sport. Superstitions stick around because they provide illusory controls in situations within which we have little control. Positive, luck-enhancing superstitions actually provide a psychological benefit in the context of skill execution. That means, luck-enhancing superstitions actually help boost the execution of performance skills because the athlete feels more comfortable and secure.

So, funnily, even when we have low control and on a rational level know that there is no magical solution, we pretend as if there are such solutions for emotional benefit. They make us feel better, even when we know deep down that they do not affect the outcome.

For my Argentinian friends, me not moving from the sofa helped them feel in control even though Lionel Messi & Co. were responsible for the outcome of the game

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There are positive and negative superstitions. A superstition that acts like a lucky charm provides a psychological advantage. For example, a specific chain or a pair of socks will not help you win the World Cup, but it typically makes you more comfortable as you prepare for your performance. In performance or when we are trying to achieve something complicated or uncertain, we have a normal inclination to detect patterns linked to previous success. Even though they are random or irrational to others, in our minds they are protective and make sense.

For my Argentinian friends, me not moving from the sofa helped them feel in control even though Lionel Messi & Co. were responsible for the outcome of the game. I did the same thing when the Indian football team was playing in the SAFF finals (what a game that was!). Repeating the same superstitious behaviour helps Tiger Woods, Sachin Tendulkar and Serena Williams feel in control. Think of superstitions like your small protective habits. They are made by you and for your benefit. They make you comfortable. Once you are comfortable, you can perform.

Dr Sahen Gupta is a Kolkata-born, India- and UK-based psychologist who divides his time between mental health support and high-performance coaching. As the founder of Discovery Sport & Performance Lab, he works not only with Olympians and other top-level sportspersons, but also with CEOs and other professionals striving for excellence. Dr Gupta’s mission is to simplify complexities of the mind into actionable and simple ‘doables’ that allow individuals to be mentally fit.