Lottery Superstition
Further to my blog entry about Friday 13th last week, I'd like to look this week at superstition throughout Europe. The UK National Lottery operator Camelot recently released its findings on superstition among lottery players across the continent, and there were some interesting bits of information that I thought you might like to know about:
1 - People who have a fear of Friday 13 are called paraskavedekatriaphobics. Coincidentally, people who have a fear of spelling don't like that word very much either.
2 - The French view themselves as being the luckiest people in Europe, with 48% of French respondents being optimistic. People in Spain aren't far behind, with 45% of Spaniards saying the same. Only 27% of British respondents believe that they are lucky.
3 - 72% of people in Spain view the number 13 as being a regular number, with no relation to luck. 43% of French people think that 13 is a lucky number. Encouragingly, 73% of British people no longer view the number 13 as being unlucky, which no doubt means that the number of paraskavedekatriophobics in the UK is gradually dwindling.
4 - 47% of French people have a lucky charm. Only 36% of Spaniards and 24% of British people admit to the same.
5 - Overall, people in France and Spain tend to focus on why things will go right, and they try to increase their good luck. Here in Britain, superstitious people focus on why things could go wrong, and they try to avoid bad luck.
Personally, I'm pleasantly surprised that, on the whole, superstition seems to be on the way out, with British lottery players leading the way to a new enlightenment.
Article Last Updated: 17/07/2007 14:53:21
