Even if you aren't superstitious, do you knock on wood? Throw salt over your shoulder?
Even people who don't believe in jinxes feel better after warding off an unlucky whammy, according to a study published in Journal of Experimental Psychology.
After some chit-chat with study subjects, researchers at University of Chicago and the National University of Singapore spoke to the participants about misfortune or tempting fate, according to Scientific American. Researchers asked, "Do you think that there is a possibility that you or someone close to you will get into a horrible car accident this winter?"
Some subjects were given neutral answers to choose from while another group of subjects were given deliberately audacious answers like, "No way. Nobody I know would get into a bad car accident. It's just not possible." The presumptuous answers were designed to make the subject feel they had tempted fate, according to Scientific American.
Test subjects were told they could collect their thoughts by knocking on the tabletop, knocking the underside of the table or by doing nothing.
Those who had "tempted fate" expressed concern about car accidents after the talk with the researcher, but after completing an avoidant action, like rapping the tabletop, their stress level was reduced to that of those who did not tempt fate, according to Scientific American.
Throwing the action away from oneself, like knocking on wood, might help blur the imagery of a negative outcome, researchers concluded.
Maybe that's why Frank Underwood always comes out on top...
