With exams around the corner, good luck charms, trinkets, and affirmation routines are on the rise. Manifestational tendencies emerge in reaction to soul-draining exam anxiety. Conducting a small college survey, I found that nearly 1/3 of students have some kind of superstition, routine or charm to bring them luck during exams. But at what point do these seemingly harmless practices become destructive? And why do we rely on such menial rituals to ensure our success?
Superstitions can be a method of anxiety relief, manifesting a sense of control and acting as an outlet to externalise fears – they are ultimately an escape. Displacing nerves onto an object can have advantages in the case of examinations. Good luck charms and superstitious rituals can allow us to get into the right headspace, such as by listening to a particular song before exams. This does have its downsides, which I have personally experienced – whenever I hear “Mr Blue Sky”, my pre A-Level get-in-the-zone song, I have a visceral reaction and am transported back to those sticky exam halls. Nonetheless, superstitious manifestations, rituals, and fortune tokens can get people in the examination mindset and manifest positive energy. They are there to absorb our stress and calm our nerves. Superstitions give us a sense of control, stability, and reassurance, which supports our confidence, leading to better results.
Superstitions allow us to shake off feelings of guilt and accountability when exams don’t go to plan. Blaming poor results on forgetting to wear your long, overdue-for-a-wash lucky socks shifts the responsibility. Perhaps we use superstitions as a scapegoat and coping mechanism– we are unwilling to accept that poor performance is not in fact the fault of seeing a black cat, but rather the three hours of TV consumed the night before the exam. We don’t want to face the music (Mr Blue Sky or otherwise) and take accountability.
Forgetting to perform superstitious habits can negatively impact performance. Not bringing your favourite crystals into an exam hall won’t actually make you forget all you have learned, but it can lead to an overwhelming sense of anxiety. Mental state is crucial to exam success. Neglecting superstitions can significantly impede someone’s psychological state. Take me, for example – if my wrist was not decked out in auspicious jade bracelets, not only would I be on the verge of hyperventilation, but also would be convinced that poor exam results were set in stone. I’m not saying bringing in my bag of charms into my A-Level exams is what got me into Oxford University, but a part of me does feel if I hadn’t had my trinkets as a backup, I would have struggled.
At what point do we become obsessive about superstitions? When exactly do positive affirmations become fixations? Is it when we genuinely believe we will fail an exam if we do not bring our charms with us? Catastrophising when certain rituals aren’t performed could be the first sign we have crossed the line. Becoming obsessive to the point where superstitions create unprecedented amounts of anxiety rather than being an outlet to project anxieties onto would suggest that these behaviours have become compulsive and destructive. When superstitious rituals become addictive, interfering with daily function, they cease to be coping mechanisms, and instead become psychological barriers.
Despite the negative impact superstitions can have, for most people the advantages generally outweigh the negatives. They come at a low loss, high gain price. What we dismiss as trivial rituals in fact play a role in keeping us sane under exam pressure. But they can become dangerous when we become too reliant and almost addicted to our lucky charms. Just like anything, superstitions are good in moderation.
