Superstitions Among Certain Groups of Lebanese Arab Students in Beirut

Abstract

This study is partly exploratory to assess the extent to which superstitious beliefs and behavior are common among different groups of high school and university Lebanese Arab students in Beirut. Class level, sex, high school science achievement, and major were the main variables that were investigated as to their relevance to superstitiousness. More than 600 students in the 8th and 11th high school grades and university sophomores answered 59 items relating to superstitions with respect to acquaintance, belief in, and influence on behavior. It was found that superstitiousness significantly decreases with increasing level of education. Among the other variables investigated, the major findings were that among the university sophomore students, females and arts students were respectively more superstitious than males and science students.