A lucky charm can be anything from a horse shoe, to your one of your beloved Elvis gifts. Whilst some people swear by their charms other people believe they are a waste of time. Regardless of what you believe, research shows that these personal trinkets may actually bring heightened confidence and an amplified chance of success.
This research was carried out at the University of Cologne after they noticed a large number of sports stars performing special rituals or wearing specific items of clothes during their games. Prime examples include Tiger Woods who dresses in a red shirt on tournament Sundays, or Serena Williams wearing the same socks throughout an entire tournament!
John Terry, England and Chelsea FC player, once said that he had around 50 rituals when it came to match day. These included sitting in the same seat on the team bus each time, to the slightly quirkier procedure of listening to the same pre-match music before each game. Other football legends including Bobby Moore, Gary Neville, and Gary Lineker are also said to have had special match day procedures.
These may sound like some unique rituals, but they certainly get odder than this. Take former France manager Raymond Domenech for example; he refused to pick players were born under the star sign of Scorpio! However, more common good luck charms include four-leaved clovers, rabbit’s feet, horseshoes, or simply the crossing of the fingers.
In the University of Cologne study, good luck charms were among the more mainstream types: stuffed animals, lucky stones, and wedding rings. Half of the people had their charms taken away from them, while half were permitted to have their charms with them. In general, the people with their charms outperformed those who did not in a range of experiments.
Now do you believe in lucky charms?
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