Superstitions of Canadian Intercollegiate Athletes: an Inter-Sport Comparison

Abstract

Belief structures categorized as superstitions were investigated among members of six selected Intercollegiate athletic teams enrolled at the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada during the 1971-72 aca demic year. A mailed questionnaire was employed as the survey instru ment and distributed to 174 athletes chosen by systematic random sampling from lists supplied by the Department of Athletics. The over all return rate was 73.3 percent (team sport athletes 78.3%: individual sports athletes 68.4%). Using the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient to determine differences between rankings of superstitions in sub-groups, it was found that: (a) the rankings for sport superstitions were similar between team and individual sport athletes, (b) there was a greater similarity in the rankings of sport superstitions among males. Team sport athletes provided greater support for superstitions related to equip ment and its use; order of entering the arena or their playing position; dressing room activities; repetitive rituals; and sports personalities. In dividual sport athletes gave higher support for superstitions related to wearing charms; lucky lane numbers; team cheers; and crossing one self before participation. Sport superstitions were identified with par ticular activities, for example, (a) Hockey - equipment, order and player position; (b) Basketball — sinking the last warm-up shot; (c) Volleyball — superstitions pertaining to food; (d) Swimming — colour of suit; (e) Track — clothing, lane numbers and superstitions related to shoes; and (f) Tennis — weather and lucky balls (by brand). The recourse to su perstitious beliefs and practices as determinants of success or effective participation was found to be particularly prevalent among the athletes of the sample. The fact that 137 respondents endorsed 904 superstitions (with repetition) which could be grouped into 40 categories clearly in dicated the strength of superstition in sport.

Demystifying Sport Superstition

“…Jane Gregory (1973) in her master's thesis followed the basic pattern set in earlier social science investigations of superstition using a questionnaire containing force-choice, Likert-type and open-ended questions. Her study, reported in parts in three publications (Gregory and Petrie, 1972;Gregory and Petrie, 1975;, and involving 137 intercollegiate athletes and 115 non-athletes is the most extensive study reported to date on superstition in sport. Although the athletes were expected, understandably, to be reticent to admit their own endorsement of superstitions, they appear to have been relatively prepared to report of having heard of sport superstitions or of know-104 ing other athletes who believed in them (Gregory and Petrie, 1972).…”

“…The empirical data from the popular literature would seem to support this, as does the one reported study on the topic. In Gregory and Petrie's (1975) study of intercollegiate basketball, volleyball, ice hockey, track and field, swimming and tennis players, it appeared that many superstitions were related to the nature of the particular sport concerned. For example, the fact that ice hockey players used more and greater variety of equipment than the other athletes in the study was reflected in the increased number of superstitions related to it.…”

“…Regardless of the degree of planning, scouting, research, and even spying on the other team's practices, the element of chance remains central to sport (Snyder and Spreitzer, 1978, p. 13). It is this strong element of chance that accounts for the abundance of magic and superstition surrounding athletics (Gregory and Petrie, 1975). When all the chance factors cannot be brought under human control, magic and superstition are commonly invoked as coping mechanisms.…”

The Role of Theories within Sport Sociology

“…Malinowski noted the use of magic by primitive people in situations where the outcome was uncertain. Henslin (1967) recorded the use of magical practices in betting and shooting craps, and Gmelch (1972) extended the research tradition to the uncertainties of baseball (see also Gregory and Petrie, 1975). While Malinowski observed magic and superstition as one response to the uncertainty of events where the outcome was desired, Merton (1938) noted the tendency for deviance to occur in similar situations of structuTal disjunction.…”

“…These influence of playing collegiate football in a central position and head coaching positions. 6. The relationship between playing a central position in professional hockey (center, defence) and access to coaching and managerial positions.…”