Students Tendency toward Superstition, A Sociological Inquiry

The tendency toward superstition is a feeling of belonging and commitmentto illusory issues that has no scientific, religious or rational justification. Sociological study of superstition is necessitated not only for contradictions it bears vis-à-vis development processes, but also for multiplicity of negative consequences it invokes. Utilizing a sociological approach, this article sets out to investigate students’ tendency toward superstition in the University of Mazandaran and the Nowshirvani Technical University in the city of Babol. Out of the total number of 14548 of the student population of these two universities, (during the academic year of 2008-2009), 375 students were chosen to be the sample volume of this survey research. Such sampling was conducted based on Morgan Table and using the proportional stratified sampling technique. The data was collected by a constructed questionnaire and analyzed through the SPSS statistical software. The most significant findings of the survey can be summed up as the following1. Reliability coefficient of the superstition scale is high (α > 0.80).2. Less than a quarter of the students were found to be superstitious (about %23).3. There was a significant difference between rates of students’ tendency toward superstition based on their gender and educational rank, but not on their educational discipline and their university.4. Applying regression analysis revealed that about 18 percent of the changes of the dependent variable (the rate of the students’ tendency toward superstition) can be explained by three independent variables: rate of religiosity, gender, and education level.5. And, more importantly, compared to the other two variables of gender and education, the rate of religiosity (the third variable) has been the most important variable influencing students’ tendency toward superstition.