Perceptions Of Luck Research Articles

"It wasn't Luck: God Wants me Here for a Reason": Perceptions of Luck Among US Patients and Its Relationships to Other Factors Among US Patients.

Patients may feel "lucky" or "unlucky" regarding disease, but questions arise about what they mean. Interviews suggest that US patients often invoke luck in trying to understand why diseases occur and treatments succeed/fail, and do so in the context of religious and spiritual beliefs, struggling with whether luck comes from God; and feeling luck is involved at various points, whether good or bad, regarding the whole or just aspects of an illness, and reflecting personal traits or single events. Social contexts can affect these views. These data have critical implications for researchers, physicians, nurses, chaplains, other providers and patients.

Pro-Gambling culture

Abstract This paper analyses gambling within the notion of culture. Examining its origins, we find out that gambling is strongly intertwined with culture. Due to human development and cultural complexity, the perceptions of luck, taking risk and chance change over time, but still have an important impact on gambling activity and detecting its codes. Historical evidence of gambling shows that gambling developed with different intensity, and has been mostly affected by European colonization. Gambling culture can be distinguished depending on the historical backgrounds, institutional structure and religious backgrounds (among other factors). The secondary analysis was prepared by taking raw data from the World Value Survey (2014) and analysing the correlations between gambling components. The selected components prove to be significantly correlated with the Taking Risk factor (secularization factor) and represent a significant contribution to the finalization of our findings. The final results propose four types of gambling culture present today, i.e. Simple Gambling Culture, Denied Gambling Culture, Transitioning Gambling Culture and Pro-Gambling Culture. Simple Gambling culture has the least gambling characteristic, whereas Pro-gambling Culture is a newly introduced term which represents the contemporary gambling cultural orientations.

“It’s just the luck of the draw”: Luck, good farming and the management of animal disease in Aotearoa New Zealand

The mobility of livestock in modern farming systems is connected with the geographical spread of animal disease. Government attempts to control this geography increasingly rely on practices of self-government that create new farming subjectivities to shape farming conduct. However, studies show that perceptions of luck are influential in shaping behaviour to environmental hazards, as are socio-cultural concepts of ‘good farming’ in which forms of cultural capital define appropriate conduct. This paper examines how luck is woven into farmers’ understandings of disease and the conduct of ‘good farming’ in relation to government attempts to restrict the movement of cattle. Drawing on 41 qualitative interviews with farmers in Aotearoa New Zealand, the paper examines understandings of good farming in relation to a metrological system to encourage fewer high-risk livestock movements. Data reveal that luck is an important resource in shaping farmers’ perceptions of animal disease, justifying their disease control behaviour; responses to practices of self-government; and allowing farmers to displace blame and rely on experts to manage animal disease. A focus on luck also highlights a range of competing versions of good farming and the importance of context when assessing the symbols of good farming. The failure to inscribe multiple forms of good farming within practices of animal disease self-government and narrowly associate good farming with disease freedom means they lack cultural relevance. In conclusion the paper considers the importance of luck for the concept of good farming and government approaches to managing the geography of animal disease.

Beyond cost: Exploring fuel choices and the socio-cultural dynamics of liquefied petroleum gas stove adoption in Peru

Reducing the burden of household air pollution requires that cleaner fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) be used nearly exclusively. However, exclusive adoption has been challenging in low- and middle-income countries. Previous studies have found that economic, social, and cultural barriers often impede adoption. We conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 22 participants in a research trial where LPG was provided for free in Puno, Peru. We aimed to determine whether social and cultural barriers to LPG use persisted when monetary costs to the households were removed, and what factors influenced exclusive adoption of LPG in a cost-free context. Facilitators of LPG use included: support from study staff, family support, time savings, previous experience with LPG, stove design, ability to use existing pots, smoke reductions, desire for cleanliness, removal of traditional stoves, and perceptions of luck. Barriers to LPG use included: fears of LPG, problems with LPG brands, delays in obtaining LPG refills, social pressure, perceived incompatibility of traditional dishes, perceived inability to use clay pots, separate kitchens for LPG and traditional stoves, designated pots for use on the traditional stove, and lack of heat. However, these barriers did not prevent participants from using LPG nearly exclusively. Results suggest that social and cultural barriers to exclusive LPG use can be overcome when LPG stoves and fuel are provided at no cost to users and supplemented with behavioral support. Governments should evaluate the economic feasibility and sustainability of LPG subsidization, considering the potential benefits of exclusive LPG use.

Promotional Games Increase Consumer Conversion Rates and Spending

Abstract Promotional games are used frequently in retail stores and online. While prior literature has focused on antecedents of promotional games, such as how individual differences induce game participation, little is known about post-winning decision making or its underlying processes. This study offers findings from seven studies to provide a detailed perspective on how promotional games increase consumer conversion rates and spending. The effect of winning a discount on conversion rates and spending is multiply determined and occurs via perceptions of luck and store affective attitude, and via perceptions of luck alone and store affective attitude alone. In order to get a more nuanced understanding of the underlying processes and to delineate theoretically driven boundary conditions for this novel effect, the authors subsequently analyze the two individual pathways through perceptions of luck and store affective attitude in isolation. Thereby, they contribute to the literature on pricing and promotions by providing a detailed understanding on how winning a promotional discount leads to a different set of consumer inferences relative to an equivalent straight discount, and to the literature on the role of luck in consumer behavior by providing a nuanced understanding of how luck operates in this common consumer context.

Superstitious Behavior in Financial Decision-Making

Superstition surrounding lucky numbers is observed to affect behavior in consumer goods and investment markets alike. In paying more (less) for assets perceived to be lucky (unlucky), individuals are revealing themselves as ‘enculturated’ actors in their financial decisions. This paper develops an economic framework for identifying the value assigned to ‘luck’ and examines the effect of the numbers 8 and 4 in addresses on housing prices in Sydney, Australia. These numbers are considered exceptionally lucky and unlucky, respectively, in Chinese culture. This is the first paper to test for luck-motivated behavior in both transaction and rental housing prices. Contrary to prior studies we find no evidence of a price premium (discount) attached to the number 8 (4) in transaction prices. Rental prices, however, indicate a statistically significant premium attached to the number 8 in areas of high Asian-migrant population. We provide evidence to demonstrate that this result can not be explained by a rational expectation of future luck-motivated behavior. Taken together, these results indicate that perceptions of luck are culturally-determined and that luck provides amenity, not investment, value.

The experience of appraisal, coping and adaptive psychosocial adjustment following traumatic brain injury: A qualitative investigation

Purpose: The experience of appraisal and coping in relation to psychosocial adjustment was explored with individuals who had sustained a traumatic brain injury.Methods: Nine participants were interviewed using a semi-structured schedule. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the data and highlighted four over-riding themes.Results: The emergent themes included: (1) ‘waking up’: understanding TBI; (2) ‘I keep going’: coping with TBI; (3) ‘I knew I’d get better’: beliefs about TBI; and (4) ‘the benefits have far outweighed the consequences’: searching for positives. These themes highlighted the adaptive and fluid way in which participants coped over time. In addition, the balance between perceptions of luck vs controllability and optimism vs realism were evident for many participants. All but one participant showed adaptive adjustment; therefore the non-adaptive case was used to critique the emergent themes.Conclusions: The case of non-adaptive adjustment illustrated less fluidity in terms of the coping strategies utilised, little perceived controllability and a greater degree of externalizing blame. The findings give some direction to neuropsychological rehabilitation with regard to the pliable nature of appraisals and coping and their potential to facilitate adaptive adjustment.

The effects of near wins and near losses on self-perceived personal luck and subsequent gambling behavior

Which person would be most likely to continue gambling? A person who has just experienced a big win or a person who has just experienced a big loss? The answer appears often to be whichever gambler feels personally luckier. Two experiments investigated how perceptions of luck, understood as a personal quality, are affected by near, but unrealized outcomes during a game of chance. In Experiment 1, a near big loss at a gambling game heightened perceptions of personal luck relative to a near big win, even though all participants actually won the same modest amount. In addition, participants who experienced a near big loss generated significantly more downward counterfactuals than did those participants in the near big win condition. Most importantly, differences in self-perceived luck influenced future gambling behavior. Participants who experienced a near big loss on a wheel-of-fortune wagered significantly more on the outcome of a subsequent game of roulette than did those participants who experienced a near big win. Experiment 2 extended these results by testing the possible influence of a different type of near outcome and by including a control group. The discussion focuses on the emerging picture of how people understand luck.