Development of a Chinese Superstitious Belief Scale

Abstract

Traditional Western superstitious beliefs, such as black cats and the number 13 bringing bad luck, may not be applicable to different cultures. This study develops a Chinese Superstitious Belief Scale by conducting two studies with 363 and 395 participants, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis was used to construct the scale and then structural equation modeling was applied to verify its reliability and validity. The scale contains six dimensions, Homonym, Traditional customs, Power of crystal, Horoscope, Feng-shui, and Luck for gambling. Findings are helpful for understanding the difference between Chinese superstitions and the traditional Western superstitions and permits subsequent development of sociopsychological theories on correlates and effects of Chinese superstitions.

Gambling motivations and superstitious beliefs: a cross-cultural study with casino customers

“…These rituals, beliefs and superstitions have been developed from ancient traditions and can still be seen in modern everyday life. For example, a survey by the China Association of Science and Technology showed that the majority of Chinese still hold to the old ways, and as many as 85% of Chinese young people still have their fortunes told (Huang & Teng, 2009;Putzi, 2009).…”

Chinese Beliefs in Luck are Linked to Gambling Problems via Strengthened Cognitive Biases: A Mediation Test

“…Published questionnaire assessments of luck in previous Chinese studies were unsuitable for use in the study because they did not capture the broad conceptions of luck in diverse gambling and geographical settings (Zheng et al 2010;Huang and Teng 2009;Hernandez et al 2008;Tao et al 2011). For our purposes, items from previous instruments (the Chinese Superstitious Belief Scale, the Superstitious Beliefs Scale, and the Indigenous Inventory Scale) were selected if they assessed prominent content domains of luck found in the literature (Fong 2000;Huang and Teng 2009;Hernandez et al 2008)-i.e., beliefs in the use of homonyms in speech, superstitions behaviours, crystals, Chinese geomancy, horoscopes, and charms to promote luck.…”

“…For our purposes, items from previous instruments (the Chinese Superstitious Belief Scale, the Superstitious Beliefs Scale, and the Indigenous Inventory Scale) were selected if they assessed prominent content domains of luck found in the literature (Fong 2000;Huang and Teng 2009;Hernandez et al 2008)-i.e., beliefs in the use of homonyms in speech, superstitions behaviours, crystals, Chinese geomancy, horoscopes, and charms to promote luck. A panel of seven Chinese people from a variety of East and Southeast countries (Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia) then indicated whether the collated items from previous scales were relevant to Chinese people from their own country of origin.…”

“…Superstitious beliefs reported amongst ethnic Chinese include the beliefs in the effectiveness of 风水 /feng-shui/ or geomancy to improve personal luck (Zheng et al 2010), the use of horoscopes to predict the future, and the belief that certain numbers such as "6" and "8" have lucky properties because they are homonyms of the Chinese words for "smoothness" and "prosperity" respectively (Huang and Teng 2009).…”

Intrinsic Religiosity and Attitude toward Finales as Precursors of Superstitious Beliefs: A Cross-Cultural Investigation

“…Important to many people, horoscopes are inherent to superstition ideologies (Fichten and Sunerton, 1983;Huang and Teng, 2009). As such, superstitious beliefs help explain the routine nature of reading horoscopes (Kramer and Block, 2008).…”