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Very Short Introductions #623
Superstition: A Very Short Introduction
Do you touch wood for luck, or avoid hotel rooms on floor thirteen? Would you cross the path of a black cat, or step under a ladder? Is breaking a mirror just an expensive waste of glass, or something rather more sinister? Despite the dominance of science in today's world, superstitious beliefs - both traditional and new - remain surprisingly popular. A recent survey of adults in the United States found that 33 percent believed that finding a penny was good luck, and 23 percent believed that the number seven was lucky. Where did these superstitions come from, and why do they persist today?
This Very Short Introduction explores the nature and surprising history of superstition from antiquity to the present. For two millennia, superstition was a label derisively applied to foreign religions and unacceptable religious practices, and its primary purpose was used to separate groups and assert religious and social authority. After the Enlightenment, the superstition label was still used to define groups, but the new dividing line was between reason and unreason. Today, despite our apparent sophistication and technological advances, superstitious belief and behaviour remain widespread, and highly educated people are not immune. Stuart Vyse takes an exciting look at the varieties of popular superstitious beliefs today and the psychological reasons behind their continued existence, as well as the likely future course of superstition in our increasingly connected world.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
This Very Short Introduction explores the nature and surprising history of superstition from antiquity to the present. For two millennia, superstition was a label derisively applied to foreign religions and unacceptable religious practices, and its primary purpose was used to separate groups and assert religious and social authority. After the Enlightenment, the superstition label was still used to define groups, but the new dividing line was between reason and unreason. Today, despite our apparent sophistication and technological advances, superstitious belief and behaviour remain widespread, and highly educated people are not immune. Stuart Vyse takes an exciting look at the varieties of popular superstitious beliefs today and the psychological reasons behind their continued existence, as well as the likely future course of superstition in our increasingly connected world.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
168 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2020
18 people are currently reading
409 people want to read
About the author
Stuart A. Vyse
8 books21 followersStuart Vyse is a behavioral scientist, teacher, and writer. He writes the monthly “Behavior & Belief” column for Skeptical Inquirer and personal essays in a variety of places—lately for the Observer, Medium, The Atlantic, The Good Men Project, and Tablet. He also blogs very sporadically for Psychology Today.
Vyse's book Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition won the William James Book Award of the American Psychological Association and has been or will be translated into four languages. His book Going Broke: Why Americans Can’t Hold On To Their Money is an analysis of the current epidemic of personal debt and has been translated into Chinese.
As an expert on irrational behavior, Vyse has been quoted in many news outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and have appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, CNN International, the PBS NewsHour, and NPR”s Science Friday.
Vyse holds a PhD in psychology and BA and MA degrees in English literature and is a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. The majority of his teaching career was spent at Connecticut College in New London, CT, where I was the Joanne Toor ’50 Professor of Psychology. His academic interests are in decision making, behavioral economics, philosophy, behavior analysis, and belief in the paranormal.
Vyse's book Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition won the William James Book Award of the American Psychological Association and has been or will be translated into four languages. His book Going Broke: Why Americans Can’t Hold On To Their Money is an analysis of the current epidemic of personal debt and has been translated into Chinese.
As an expert on irrational behavior, Vyse has been quoted in many news outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and have appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, CNN International, the PBS NewsHour, and NPR”s Science Friday.
Vyse holds a PhD in psychology and BA and MA degrees in English literature and is a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. The majority of his teaching career was spent at Connecticut College in New London, CT, where I was the Joanne Toor ’50 Professor of Psychology. His academic interests are in decision making, behavioral economics, philosophy, behavior analysis, and belief in the paranormal.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 5, 2024
Entertaining overview which looks at superstition's origins with both religious and non-religious examples. The chapter on superstition in the modern world (since the 19th century) has a fun catalog of popular superstitions and where they came from. The fifth chapter - the psychology of superstition - summarizes in 23 pages his more academic Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition. Has a good bibliography for further reading adventures.
October 23, 2021
A short and comprehensive introduction to the history, present and future of superstition. I found that Vyse found an interesting angle and used a stable, respectful and convincing definition for superstition, while still giving a lot of insight into the practice throughout the ages. Would definitely recommend!
September 3, 2023
el libro solo contempla la historia europea, muy triste porque la historia precolombina le daría mucha información. El nombre del libro debería ser "breve historia eurocentrica de la superstición".
Muchos datos, poco análisis, sirve para muy poco
Muchos datos, poco análisis, sirve para muy poco
August 29, 2022
Some helpful content in here, especially in the history. But it exhibits an overconfidence in enlightenment rationalistic positivistic kind of worldview.
November 6, 2025
It was fine. Necessary for my research.
February 18, 2025
This was well-written, well-researched, and easy-to-follow. It also adopted a myopic and condescending perspective on something that, for millions of people, is incredibly meaningful and culturally relevant. On the whole, the book seems to argue that (a) superstition is useless, and (b) persisting in useless actions is futile and stupid, so therefore (c) people who believe in superstitions are stupid.
The only perceived use of superstition in this book is to alleviate anxiety by creating a sense or control—what an exceedingly decontextualized, individualist perspective! The first part of the book was dedicated to showing how belief in magic and, by extension, religion was irrational. It seems that there is an assumption that superstition is bad because it creates openings for the exploitation of the vulnerable and gullible. One can argue that superstition is a reflection of a cultural worldview; the true “evil” is not the superstition itself (which is really just people making meaning out of chaos, as brains are meant to do), but those who exploit this out of greed or malice.
All in all, I did actually enjoy the refreshingly stable yet ivory-tower-ish writing, but I disagree with its interpretations, which echo outdated colonial ideas of what is “primitive” and what is “civilized.”
The only perceived use of superstition in this book is to alleviate anxiety by creating a sense or control—what an exceedingly decontextualized, individualist perspective! The first part of the book was dedicated to showing how belief in magic and, by extension, religion was irrational. It seems that there is an assumption that superstition is bad because it creates openings for the exploitation of the vulnerable and gullible. One can argue that superstition is a reflection of a cultural worldview; the true “evil” is not the superstition itself (which is really just people making meaning out of chaos, as brains are meant to do), but those who exploit this out of greed or malice.
All in all, I did actually enjoy the refreshingly stable yet ivory-tower-ish writing, but I disagree with its interpretations, which echo outdated colonial ideas of what is “primitive” and what is “civilized.”
October 11, 2024
If you want a quick summary about the history and psychology of superstition, this is your book. It is important to know that the first three chapters are about what was superstition before. The fourth chapter is about what is superstition now and the fifth and sixth ones are about the psychology and social point of view about the subject.
If you only want to know about the psychological aspect, it is better to look other books.
If you only want to know about the psychological aspect, it is better to look other books.
November 1, 2023
Un buen libro que explica el fenómeno de la superstición desde sus efectos positivos (psicológicamente hablando), negativos (social y políticamente hablando) y prácticos (individual y sistemáticamente hablando). El recorrido es concreto y se agradece la claridad y los ejemplos que Vyse añade a su historia.
December 31, 2025
The "Very Short Introduction" series is, overall, a great way to get a leg up on various academic areas of study. Some aren't written so well, and may take a topic over the head of a reader. Many I've read are, at least to me, accessible.
In this work Stuart Vyse does an excellent job of introducing the reader to the history of superstition and its possible causes, and the impacts it can have on the believer/practitioner. He defines it essentially as the practice of a ritual that will somehow benefit or protect the believer, but the book goes farther than that. It is a history of a common form of credulity.
Scientists and skeptics will enjoy this work. Superstitious and religious people may not. All of them should take an honest shot at it, however, and give it a read.
Why it lost a star? At one point he makes reference to the superstitions use of salt in an earlier chapter. That chapter doesn't list said usage. My guess is it got cut by an editor. I've seen this happen in other books in the series as well as other more lengthy works. A second reason for the mild downgrading of the star score is that it is, for the most part, a history of European superstition. He gives examples found in Turkey, Egypt, and Asia, but the bulk of the work is the superstitious practices of Western civilization and how it partly gave way to the assaults of reason during the Enlightenment. Again, this may have been due to length restrictions, but perhaps there should have been two books in the series...?
That said, the book is going on my shelf for awhile, and isn't one that I want to get rid of quite yet. I'll be popping back into it from time to time.
In this work Stuart Vyse does an excellent job of introducing the reader to the history of superstition and its possible causes, and the impacts it can have on the believer/practitioner. He defines it essentially as the practice of a ritual that will somehow benefit or protect the believer, but the book goes farther than that. It is a history of a common form of credulity.
Scientists and skeptics will enjoy this work. Superstitious and religious people may not. All of them should take an honest shot at it, however, and give it a read.
Why it lost a star? At one point he makes reference to the superstitions use of salt in an earlier chapter. That chapter doesn't list said usage. My guess is it got cut by an editor. I've seen this happen in other books in the series as well as other more lengthy works. A second reason for the mild downgrading of the star score is that it is, for the most part, a history of European superstition. He gives examples found in Turkey, Egypt, and Asia, but the bulk of the work is the superstitious practices of Western civilization and how it partly gave way to the assaults of reason during the Enlightenment. Again, this may have been due to length restrictions, but perhaps there should have been two books in the series...?
That said, the book is going on my shelf for awhile, and isn't one that I want to get rid of quite yet. I'll be popping back into it from time to time.
August 20, 2022
This was fine. Vyse mainly tracks how the term superstition has evolved over the years -- used to indicate magic, a religion other than yours, bad science, and finally the superstitions that we know today. The most interesting part to me was a small chunk at the very end on whether personal superstitions are helpful or harmful (I wear this pink shirt in order to perform my best, etc.) I wanted a whole book about modern superstitions, not a bunch about witchcraft and religion. I am excited to explore some of the titles in the Further Reading section though.
March 26, 2024
「不論結果是好是壞，光是迷信能讓自己感覺對事情有所掌控，或許就足以讓人延續迷信行為。」
如果對魔法、咒術和巫術等邪術有興趣的人，可以來讀這本，雖然它沒有教人如何施展法術，但你可以知道從古至今這些超自然力量的發展脈絡，即使現在看似科學理性主義當道的時代，魔鬼玄學仍無所不在。 這又是為什麼？
先說，在讀這本之前，我是不相信這個世界曾經存在過魔法或是什麼巫術，當然看完後還是不相信，不過它帶給人的力量確實不容小覷，可以說是當時人們的心靈支柱也不為過。 「魔法即是想像的世界」，一旦理解這種想法後，也就能明白任何信仰的核心概念。 「迷信」並非現今這樣與宗教或任何偽科學的事物產生負面連結，在啟蒙運動之前，這個詞被主流宗教用來歧視異教信仰的人，且隨著歷代主流宗教的轉換而有了不同的意義。
迷信至今從未消失。作者舉了幾個目前世界上仍然存在的迷信的例子，像是占星術、風水、不吉利的數字等等，我想現在應該很少人交男女朋友不參考星座XD買房租房不看風水吧⋯，而這些其實也都是迷信，所以現代人嘲笑古人相信魔法也是半斤八兩😹
如果對魔法、咒術和巫術等邪術有興趣的人，可以來讀這本，雖然它沒有教人如何施展法術，但你可以知道從古至今這些超自然力量的發展脈絡，即使現在看似科學理性主義當道的時代，魔鬼玄學仍無所不在。 這又是為什麼？
先說，在讀這本之前，我是不相信這個世界曾經存在過魔法或是什麼巫術，當然看完後還是不相信，不過它帶給人的力量確實不容小覷，可以說是當時人們的心靈支柱也不為過。 「魔法即是想像的世界」，一旦理解這種想法後，也就能明白任何信仰的核心概念。 「迷信」並非現今這樣與宗教或任何偽科學的事物產生負面連結，在啟蒙運動之前，這個詞被主流宗教用來歧視異教信仰的人，且隨著歷代主流宗教的轉換而有了不同的意義。
迷信至今從未消失。作者舉了幾個目前世界上仍然存在的迷信的例子，像是占星術、風水、不吉利的數字等等，我想現在應該很少人交男女朋友不參考星座XD買房租房不看風水吧⋯，而這些其實也都是迷信，所以現代人嘲笑古人相信魔法也是半斤八兩😹
October 26, 2025
Cita favorita: "el ateo no cree que los dioses existen, pero el supersticioso no quiere que existan, mas lo cree contra su voluntad, pues teme no creerlo".
Reseña: un libro breve pero preciso. Desde la historia general hasta los diferentes cambios que acuño la superstición a lo largo de nuestra historia y como llegamos a lo que actualmente vemos y conocemos como superstición.
Reseña: un libro breve pero preciso. Desde la historia general hasta los diferentes cambios que acuño la superstición a lo largo de nuestra historia y como llegamos a lo que actualmente vemos y conocemos como superstición.
September 5, 2024
This book started out good, but ended up being a little ideologically pressing at the end. I think the author could have left out his passionate views on climate change and the book would have been a half star better.
December 1, 2024
Very informative book with a ton of useful information. Covers the history not only of superstitious thought, but of the meaning and usage of the word superstition through time and how it was applied in various cultures and time periods. Would very much recommend.
April 1, 2025
Intriguing and overall useful overview of the subject. Though a certain bias is inevitable, the author's insistence that belief in the supernatural is intrinsically superstition is less than charitable.
May 1, 2025
Definitely a short introduction. Goes over the historical understanding of "superstition" and how it morphed from bad religion to bad science. Very European/Christianity centric. good book for anyone to dip their toe into the topic.
June 26, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed this short introduction book. It tracks how the word superstition changed and unfortunately, despite access to more information, the proliferation of increasingly dangerous superstitions in modern times despite scientific evidence to the contrary.
October 31, 2025
A fascinating short history tracing the concept and enactment of superstition with a spotlight on some cognitive mechanisms. This short treatment is focused on the West, but manages some consideration of other cultural contexts.
Read
July 4, 2023Habla de las supersticiones a lo largo del tiempo y también de la relación que tienen con la psicología, personalidad, estados de ánimo, etc, de cada persona.
April 16, 2024
The first 75% of the book is basically only examples of superstitions throughout history. The book doesn’t get good / touch on the psychology and implications of superstitions until the very end.
September 30, 2024
Easy to understand terms with examples. Great book.
December 17, 2024
Scurt și la obiect! O voi relua fiindcă sunt unele date care doresc să le rețin.
Foarte bună!
Foarte bună!
May 23, 2022
The majority of the book describes the historical development of the concept of "superstition" in the Western world. Mainly, it is often used as a political tool to denigrate and persecute people with other belief systems. It's related to more than just the "unscientific" beliefs that its modern meaning usually denotes, and is deeply connected to all our major belief systems, including religion and science, which makes the reading both enlightening and entertaining.
Superstition has not always been negatively associated with religion or anything "unscientific" like today. Before the Enlightenment, it was mainly used derogatorily by the mainstream religion or beliefs against others. The Greeks used it for beliefs by the lower class, for foreign beliefs deemed exotic, or for what they considered magic. The Romans used it for Christianity until it became popular. Then, the Christians took that concept for pagans and heretics. Many of the accusations of superstitious practices, such as demon worshipping, were used for political struggles, instead of anything substantively deviant. Ironically, the Christian Church tolerated rituals and beliefs based on the Christian faith, but were otherwise not much different from other "superstitions" as defined by them. This lasted for centuries, until religious rebels turned the notion of superstition against Christianity itself, starting the Protestant Reformation. In the Age of Reason, the meaning of superstition shifted from bad religion to anything considered bad science, becoming closer to its meaning today. Notably, it's been used a lot with rise of spiritualism in America since the 19th century.
Contrary to Weber's claim of disenchantment, Vyse proclaimed, superstition and religion never went away. He gave examples of the superstitions that still exist around the world now and clarified the contemporary usage of the word: it is not religion and is not mental illness, and it is inconsistent with science, is instrumental and pragmatic, and is culturally fair. He discussed its association with people's stress and with their need for control. There are also some speculations of how superstition could come about and explanations of what's bad about it.
As clear from its history and from its contemporary definitions, "superstition" here is conceptualized in a very Eurocentric way. Although Vyse gave accounts of "superstitious practices" in non-Western cultures and argued it being culturally fair, the idea of framing a belief system as either science, religion, or superstition is very specific to the cultural developments of the Western world. Granted, this is a book written in English on a word in English, and due to the cultural proximity many other European languages and cultures share similar concepts (specifically, when discussing its origin the book does go back to Greek and Latin). Nevertheless, this introduction would be more comprehensive if it also includes ideas similar to but not necessarily identical with "superstition" in other cultures such as those of Asia, Africa, and indigenous America. How had other parts of the world viewed "superstition" within their own cultures, without the lens of modern science? Apart from the Western world, many of the cultural practices are based on beliefs that the locals (at least used to) consider truth and reality (just like science is considered truth and reality for many now), and they would have their own ways of dealing with "heresies." Listing those cultural practices out, while still calling them superstitions, does not make the survey unbiased, even though the cultures themselves might have already been influenced by the West by now.
Superstition has not always been negatively associated with religion or anything "unscientific" like today. Before the Enlightenment, it was mainly used derogatorily by the mainstream religion or beliefs against others. The Greeks used it for beliefs by the lower class, for foreign beliefs deemed exotic, or for what they considered magic. The Romans used it for Christianity until it became popular. Then, the Christians took that concept for pagans and heretics. Many of the accusations of superstitious practices, such as demon worshipping, were used for political struggles, instead of anything substantively deviant. Ironically, the Christian Church tolerated rituals and beliefs based on the Christian faith, but were otherwise not much different from other "superstitions" as defined by them. This lasted for centuries, until religious rebels turned the notion of superstition against Christianity itself, starting the Protestant Reformation. In the Age of Reason, the meaning of superstition shifted from bad religion to anything considered bad science, becoming closer to its meaning today. Notably, it's been used a lot with rise of spiritualism in America since the 19th century.
Contrary to Weber's claim of disenchantment, Vyse proclaimed, superstition and religion never went away. He gave examples of the superstitions that still exist around the world now and clarified the contemporary usage of the word: it is not religion and is not mental illness, and it is inconsistent with science, is instrumental and pragmatic, and is culturally fair. He discussed its association with people's stress and with their need for control. There are also some speculations of how superstition could come about and explanations of what's bad about it.
As clear from its history and from its contemporary definitions, "superstition" here is conceptualized in a very Eurocentric way. Although Vyse gave accounts of "superstitious practices" in non-Western cultures and argued it being culturally fair, the idea of framing a belief system as either science, religion, or superstition is very specific to the cultural developments of the Western world. Granted, this is a book written in English on a word in English, and due to the cultural proximity many other European languages and cultures share similar concepts (specifically, when discussing its origin the book does go back to Greek and Latin). Nevertheless, this introduction would be more comprehensive if it also includes ideas similar to but not necessarily identical with "superstition" in other cultures such as those of Asia, Africa, and indigenous America. How had other parts of the world viewed "superstition" within their own cultures, without the lens of modern science? Apart from the Western world, many of the cultural practices are based on beliefs that the locals (at least used to) consider truth and reality (just like science is considered truth and reality for many now), and they would have their own ways of dealing with "heresies." Listing those cultural practices out, while still calling them superstitions, does not make the survey unbiased, even though the cultures themselves might have already been influenced by the West by now.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews