Attitudes and Abracadabra: How Do Skeptical, Superstitious, and Paranormal Beliefs Predict Enjoying Performance Magic?

The growing psychology of magic field explores how spectators understand, appreciate, and experience this ancient performing art. The present research explored how skeptical, superstitious, and paranormal beliefs predict the enjoyment of magic. A sample of American adults (n = 292) completed a measu...

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Publicado en:Empirical Studies of the Arts Vol. 43; no. 2; pp. 877 - 899
Autores principales: Silvia, Paul J., Crasson, Sara J., Greengross, Gil, Karwowski, Maciej, Rodriguez-Boerwinkle, Rebekah M.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Sage Publications Inc. Jul2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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          Silvia, Paul J.
          Crasson, Sara J.
          Greengross, Gil
          Karwowski, Maciej
          Rodriguez-Boerwinkle, Rebekah M.
        affil:
          Department of Psychology, 14616University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA
          Magician and Producer, Flavors of Magic, New York, NY, USA
          Department of Psychology, 1026Aberystwyth University, Wales, UK
          Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland
          Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, 5755Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
      su:
        Random forest algorithms
        Astrology
        Critical thinking
        Trust
        Spiritualism
        Conspiracy theories
        Skepticism
      sug:
        subj:
          Random forest algorithms
          Astrology
          Critical thinking
          Trust
          Spiritualism
          Conspiracy theories
          Skepticism
      keyword:
        magical beliefs
        paranormal beliefs
        psychology of magic
        skepticism
        superstition
      ab: The growing psychology of magic field explores how spectators understand, appreciate, and experience this ancient performing art. The present research explored how skeptical, superstitious, and paranormal beliefs predict the enjoyment of magic. A sample of American adults (n = 292) completed a measure of magic attitudes (the Loathing of Legerdemain Scale) along with many measures of (1) skeptical and rational beliefs (e.g., critical thinking and trust in science), and (2) superstitious and paranormal beliefs (e.g., luck, conspiracy theories, and paranormal topics like astrology, psi, witchcraft, and spiritualism). Random forests identified the most important unique predictors of magic attitudes within this large, intercorrelated predictor set. Consistent with past research and with magicians' experiences, enjoying magic was marked by seemingly opposing clusters of beliefs—one marked by higher critical thinking, and another marked by higher superstitious and paranormal beliefs—highlighting the variety of psychological underpinnings for the enjoyment of magic.
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    language: English
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