Previous articleNext article No AccessResearch ConclusionsUncertainty and the Use of MagicRichard B. Felson and George GmelchRichard B. Felson Search for more articles by this author and George Gmelch Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 20, Number 3Sep., 1979 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/202333 Views: 10Total views on this site Citations: 19Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1979 The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological ResearchPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Laramie D. Taylor, Irena Acic Sports Fans and Magical Thinking: How Supernatural Thinking Connects Fans to Teams, International Journal of Sport Communication 14, no.44 (Dec 2021): 574–590.https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2021-0046Anastasia Ejova, Keis Ohtsuka Erroneous gambling-related beliefs emerge from broader beliefs during problem-solving: a critical review and classification scheme, Thinking & Reasoning 26, no.22 (Apr 2019): 159–187.https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2019.1590233Stephen Pratt, Ksenia Kirillova Are hotel guests bothered by unlucky floor or room assignments?, International Journal of Hospitality Management 83 (Oct 2019): 83–94.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.03.024Maciej Musiał Humans Enchanting Robots, (Mar 2019): 63–113.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12579-0_3Philip S. Cho, Nicolas Escoffier, Yinan Mao, April Ching, Christopher Green, Jonathan Jong, Harvey Whitehouse Groups and Emotional Arousal Mediate Neural Synchrony and Perceived Ritual Efficacy, Frontiers in Psychology 9 (Oct 2018).https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02071Jungyun Kang, Ji Kyung Park, and Hakkyun Kim The Influence of Implicit Self-Theories on Causal Inferences about Superstitions and Consequences on Subsequent Tasks, Journal of the Association for Consumer Research 3, no.44 (Aug 2018): 477–489.https://doi.org/10.1086/699207Bram Tucker From Risk and Time Preferences to Cultural Models of Causality: On the Challenges and Possibilities of Field Experiments, with Examples from Rural Southwestern Madagascar, (Mar 2017): 61–114.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51721-6_3Alison Wood Brooks, Juliana Schroeder, Jane L. Risen, Francesca Gino, Adam D. Galinsky, Michael I. Norton, Maurice E. Schweitzer Don’t stop believing: Rituals improve performance by decreasing anxiety, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 137 (Nov 2016): 71–85.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.07.004Mark Collier The natural foundations of religion, Philosophical Psychology 27, no.55 (Jan 2013): 665–680.https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2012.740004Tanya King The "Skipper Effect": Riddles of Luck and Rhetorics of Individualism, Human Organization 70, no.44 (Dec 2011): 387–396.https://doi.org/10.17730/humo.70.4.7671729107n37t02Richard Sosis, W. Penn Handwerker Psalms and Coping with Uncertainty: Religious Israeli Women's Responses to the 2006 Lebanon War, American Anthropologist 113, no.11 (Feb 2011): 40–55.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1433.2010.01305.xHarvey Whitehouse The Coexistence Problem in Psychology, Anthropology, and Evolutionary Theory, Human Development 54, no.33 (Jan 2011): 191–199.https://doi.org/10.1159/000329149Gabriele M. Lepori Dark Omens in the Sky: Do Superstitious Beliefs Affect Investment Decisions?, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2009).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1428792Richard Sosis Psalms for Safety: Magico‐Religious Responses to Threats of Terror Sosis, Current Anthropology 48, no.66 (Jul 2015): 903–911.https://doi.org/10.1086/523015Jerry M. Burger, Amy L. Lynn Superstitious Behavior Among American and Japanese Professional Baseball Players, Basic and Applied Social Psychology 27, no.11 (Mar 2005): 71–76.https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324834basp2701_7Trevor I. Case, Julie Fitness, David R. Cairns, Richard J. Stevenson Coping With Uncertainty: Superstitious Strategies and Secondary Control1, Journal of Applied Social Psychology 34, no.44 (Apr 2004): 848–871.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb02574.xMarilyn K. Nations, L.A. Rebhun Mystification of a simple solution: Oral rehydration therapy in Northeast Brazil, Social Science & Medicine 27, no.11 (Jan 1988): 25–38.https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(88)90161-XDanny L. Jorgensen Divinatory Discourse, Symbolic Interaction 7, no.22 (Nov 1984): 135–153.https://doi.org/10.1525/si.1984.7.2.135James A. Mathisen Sport, (): 285–303.https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23789-5_14