A Survey of Superstitious Beliefs among Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College, Kanpur

Our ancestors observed the world around them very carefully. With absolutely no knowledge about the law of nature and man, there was a constant quest to figure out what made things happen. Everything to them was a mystery-so there was always a question ―why?‖ and always a fear of unknown. And may be because there was so much in the world around them they could not possibly explain that resulted in the superstitions. A lot of these superstitions and beliefs are still prevalent in the world, especially closer home, in India. Superstition is ―an irrational object attitude of mind towards supernatural, nature and God‖. Superstitions are often based on unreasoning fear of the unknown forces of nature. The irrational attitude often leads to crude religious practices and misdirected rituals. It has often been that sport is an area of human activity fraught with magic and superstition due to the inherent indeterminacy of sport. This unpredictability of sport is captured in ditties such as ―the ball takes funny bounce‖, ―to close to call‖, ―a toss-up‖, ―a game of inches, and the notoriety of sport ―goats‖ who are thought of as the cause of a loss in an important game due to a single misplay.‖ As it is aware that there is a lack of researches for assessing the unknown behaviour and attitude of sports person, an appropriate research is required. A survey of superstitious beliefs among Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College, Kanpur fulfills this requirement in a meaningful way. Hence, it was considered necessary to attempt ―A Survey of Superstitious Beliefs among Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College, Kanpur‖.

This Survey of Superstitious Beliefs was used to assess the behaviour and attitude of Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College, Kanpur. For this purpose of examine the prevalence of superstitious beliefs among Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College, Kanpur, 30 Male Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College, Kanpur, who have represented at inter-university and state level tournament, were randomly selected to serve as subjects. The superstitious beliefs and behavior scale prepared by Hans G. Buhramann, B. Brouch and Maxwell K. Zaugg on seven areas containing forty items was employed as criterion measure of the study. Questionnaire was administered individually to all the subjects. All the subjects had answered the questionnaire separately, without consulting others.

Statistics was used for each selected characteristics and the responses of the questionnaire were also analysed in Percentage.

The responses of the Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College, Kanpur regarding the Superstitious Beliefs about Appearance and Clothing are presented in Pie # 1:.

The pie # 1 indicates that 33.33% of Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College most often believe on Superstition with respect to Appearance and Clothing. The responses of the subjects regarding the Superstitious Beliefs before the Competition are cited below:

According to Pie # 2, 23.33% of Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College never believe on statements concerned with Superstitious Beliefs before the Competition, whereas 26.67% of Sportspersons often supported these statements. The responses of the subjects regarding the Superstitious Beliefs prior to the Match are presented below:

The Pie # 3 depicts that 26.67% of Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College have responded to most often categories of responses against the statements about Superstitious Beliefs prior to the Match. The responses of the subjects regarding the Superstitious Beliefs during the Match are presented below in Pie # 4:

With respect to the statements regarding Superstitious Belief during the match was been considered most often by 26.67% of Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College. The responses of the subjects regarding the Religious Superstitious Beliefs are presented in Pie # 5:

The pie # 5 indicates that 30% of Sportspersons often have Religious Superstitious beliefs.

Miscellaneous Superstitious Beliefs are presented in Pie # 6:

Pie # 6 shows that 33.33% of Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College have responded by ticking the often category with respect to Miscellaneous Superstitious Beliefs. The responses of the subjects regarding the all statements of Superstitious Beliefs with respect to different categories are presented in Pie # 7:

These findings justified that the superstitious beliefs are prevalent among the Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College, Kanpur.

The dominance of superstitious beliefs was appeared due to myths, social customs and traditions and to some extent to supernatural powers among Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College. They suppose that it gives them strength to perform well. Indian culture with various traditions also helps to add to superstitious beliefs which are common among the population since the time immemorial and also generously reflect in the behaviour of Sportspersons of Brahmavart P.G. College Elden E. Snyder and Elmer A. Spreizer (1978). “The Religious Dimensions of Sport” Social Aspects of Sport (Englewood Cliffs, N. J. Prentice Hall Inc. 1978.

Marie L. (1976). ―The Dynamic Relationship of Prayer and Play,‖ Dissertation Abstracts International, 37:4 (October 1976): 2071-A. Sushila Mehta (1980). “Superstition and Taboos”, A Study of Rural Sociology in India (New Delhi, S. Chand and Company Ltd., Ram Nagar) 1980. The Hindustan Times (New Delhi), Oct.2, 1996, p.5, col.1. William H. Freeman (1980). Physical Education and Sports in a Changing Society (Delhi Publication) 1980. www.psychologyofsports.com/guest/superstitions2.htm - 23k.

Assistant Professor, Brahmaart P.G. College, Mandhana, Kanpur, (UP)