You might think that when a recession bites, people will cut back on those little fun extras, like going to a fortune teller. Unfortunately, this is not the case – it’s a boom time for psychics!
Several news outlets have recently reported that psychics are apparently enjoying a huge increase in business, especially from those in the financial sector. Although this might appear surprising, it is supported by other research into paranormal belief.
In Quirkology, I reviewed work showing that people become far more prone to magical thinking when they feel anxious. For example…..
…in 1980s, Vernon Padgett (Marshall University) and Dale Jorgenson (California State University) tracked the number of articles on the paranormal in German newspapers between the two world wars, and the degree of economic threat each year. When people were suffering an economic downturn, the number of ‘paranormal’ articles on increased (the number of articles published on gardening and cooking were counted as controls and showed no relationship with the economy).
…a similar study was carried out in Israel during the 1991 Gulf War. Researchers conducted a door to door survey about superstition in cities that were either in danger of attack from SCUD missiles (e.g., Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan) and those in relatively safe areas (e.g., Jerusalem and Tiberias). People living in the high risk areas had become especially superstitious, and so much more likely to carry a lucky charm or avoid walking under ladders.
It seems that superstitious behaviour gives people an illusion of control over their lives, and proves especially appealing in the face of high uncertainty.
So, here is my question – why have our brains evolved to turn away from rationality just when we need it most?
Any thoughts?
(and thanks to Tanya for sending me the recession story)
The evolutionary explanation, IMHO, could come from the all-encompassing cognitive process we have evolved in pattern recognition. It affects so much of our lives.
Why I mention pattern recognition is because of a recent study which looked at the correlation between loss of control and the perception of meaning (detecting patterns).
When we feel like things are getting out of our control (for example in lotteries, gambling, sport, being struck by the odd meteorite) we start to try to extract meaning from the random events by detecting patterns – even when there are no such patterns.
But all that that waffling-on-a-bit doesn’t exactly address the why; Why do these people gravitate towards the psychics at these times? Perhaps they are seeking-out more data in order to try to detect a pattern – all their other avenues of explanation and sources of “data” have probably dried-up.
This also has roots in EMT and the belief in an unseen cause when there isn’t actually one there. I’ve been trying for some time on my blog to flesh out some ideas about how all this could be brought together in a testable way – a Quirkology-inspired experiment. No luck so far … I’m considering asking Mystic Meg.
Two words – Insecurity & Reassurance.
I am with Jacqueline. We also curl into a foetal position when scared stiff. I know that’s a contradictory sentence, but the spell chequer did nut like shit*ess.
Cognitive dissonance? So that we don’t hold ourselves accountable for the bad things that had happened.
Like my dad who lost 90% of his wealth. It was simly because he took too much risk at the age of 52. He purchase a home that was 12 times his annual income, while he was in a dying industry (walkie talkie dealer). But he claims it is all because he was born in the year of Ox, and his friends born in the year of tiger jinx him.
Denial is more comfortable than facing responsibilities It is also great for preserving ego/confidence.
Just thinking out loud here, wrt evolutionary advantage…
It seem to make sense that if a small band of early humans, confronted by stressful conditions, would better survive if they were unified in their reaction. A patterned belief, even if that pattern is false, would cause a more even-keeled communal response.
So a failed crop might cause “rational” (but unlearned) agrarians to react individually, and fail to support the community; whereas, the same crop-failure in a community who turns to its shaman-figure would result in a communal reaction to the problem.
A couple million years of this superstitious response that successfully leads to a stronger community would hard-wire human brains to seek a supernatural cause to life’s mishaps. And to be susceptible to any shaman-figure who’s willing to dole out advice for a price.
Wild guess,
- R
You assume that people “turn away from rationality” when they need it most. I think it’s the other way round. Studies show that irrationality is the default position – rationality is for times of ease and luxury. That’s probably why people in the affluent west are less religious generally (America is an anomaly). When times are hard, the base instincts kick in and we don’t make the cognitive effort to be rational.
Nasrudin tales express with great wit and insight the irrationalities that we possess ~
What comes to mind: ‘Take No Chances’, or ‘They Don’t Work’, – and the apparently limitlessly adaptable one involving “there’s more light here”. !!
Desperate times cause for desperate measures for some people.
“£5.00 for one question!” said the Fortune Teller to the woman in front of her.
“That’s very expensive, isn’t it?”
“Next!”
http://www.okathleen.wordpress.com
When insecure we often seek reassurance at the expense of rationality as minds are more susceptible when clouded with self doubt or fear. Comfort/security are basic human needs, if the irrational is inclined to give comfort then we will turn to it, even if the comfort offered is vague or incongruent with reality.
okathleen: Yes, that one too!
Fight or flight? When faced with a horrible situation do some people become more logical, facing the challenge, when others depart from reality all together, choosing to put faith in some illogical belief? If that’s the case, there are a lot of frightened people erring on the side of the illogical! Two more palm readers have set up shop in our neighbourhood alone. And these guys can afford nice houses! Crazy town…
[...] Richard Wiseman pointed out the flurry of recent news stories about psychics getting more business as we face [...]
Turning to spirituality seems to be a common reaction when life is at stake. War is a direct example of this, economic recession a more indirect one, money is bio-survival tickets and directly linked to survival.
I think assuming cause-effect relationships where none exists can be a conservative approximation, and useful as risk avoidance in many cases: a dead dog close to the spring is not evidence of bad water, but taking it as one is safe assumption.
Couple this with the common stance that psychic beliefs are “harmless”, and suddenly it doesn’t seem too surprising that thinking “It cannot hurt to consult my horoscope, and maybe I’ll learn something of use.” will seem rational to many people.
nice piece on this story here….
http://www.thoughtcounts.net/2009/01/turning-to-psychics/