Magical Thinking: Concept And Features

Roald Dahl said that “those who do not believe in magic will never find it.” Interestingly, humans have always had a tendency to believe in magic. The topic of today’s article, magical thinking, stems from the human belief in the inexplicable.

We believe in the law of cause and effect. When something happens without any scientific explanation, people come up with other “magical” explanations for it. In fact, it may be the reason why religions have survived through the ages despite the relentless scientific advances.

What is magical thinking?

Psychology and anthropology define magical thinking as the description of illogical attributions to certain causes without any empirical evidence.

This phenomenon is especially relevant when a person believes that their magical thoughts may have consequences for the outside world. Said consequences may stem from their actions or the actions of supernatural forces.

Almost every society in the world has magical thoughts. Magical thinking is a natural and probably biological process.

It is easy to find examples of magical thinking. A child thinks that if they behave badly, a man in a suit will kidnap them. Some cultures perform ritualistic dances to make it rain or attribute the weather to a higher power.

Reasons for magical thinking

• Continuity between events. Creating specific associations, such as believing that a friend failed a test because you wished they would not stand.

• Associative thought. To establish relationships based on similarities. It is, for example, believing that the spirit of an animal enters your body if you eat the heart.

Although these associations are not true, they can have an important function in people’s lives. Here are two reasons why magical thinking is sometimes helpful:

• Magical thinking reduces anxiety. Linking stressful and difficult situations to arbitrary causes can make you feel more in control. As a result, you feel less anxious. An example is using amulets to protect yourself from something you are afraid of.
• The placebo effect. If you believe that performing a certain ritual or saying a particular prayer will cure an illness, then it can do just that.

Characteristics of magical thinking

People have magical thoughts almost every day because it often makes them feel better. The problem arises when magical thinking brings distress or when short-term relief becomes a long-term problem.

Egocentrism in children

Children between the ages of 2 and 7 (in the preoperative phase) sometimes believe that they have the power to change the world with their thoughts voluntarily or involuntarily. They have difficulty understanding abstract concepts. It is almost impossible for a child of that age not to believe that they are the center of the universe. For example, they may think that something bad will happen to their parents because they wanted something bad to happen to them.

As a result, children sometimes take the blame for things they absolutely had nothing to do with. This type of egocentrism usually decreases as they age.

Superstition

Superstition and belief in the supernatural is quite common in our society. In the Western world, for example, the number is thirteen accidents, while the Japanese believe that the number four brings accidents.

These numbers are important in our collective consciousness. Consequently, athletes will not have these numbers on their jerseys and people will not live on those floors in apartment complexes.

Delusions

Magical thinking is also characteristic of psychotic or schizophrenic delusions.

After all, magical thinking is a kind of defense mechanism. When you have to deal with something that you cannot explain, your brain is looking for an association that will calm the anxiety that comes from uncertainty. It does not matter if the association is true, because the important thing is that it makes you feel better.