2002
DOI: 10.1348/000712602761381385
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Abstract: In two experiments, unusual phenomena (spontaneous destruction of objects in an empty wooden box) were demonstrated to adult participants living in rural communities in Mexico. These were accompanied by actions which had no physical link to the destroyed object but could suggest either scienti cally based (the effect of an unknown physical device) or non-scienti cally based (the effect of a 'magic spell') causal explanations of the event. The results were compared to the results of the matching two experiments… Show more

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Cited by 62 publications
(66 citation statements)
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“…In light of the present study, it can be argued that the development of magical beliefs conforms to a more complex model. While diminishing and gradually disappearing in older children, the belief in the efficacy of magic powers over the physical world may indeed remain in the back of one's mind (Nemeroff and Rozin, 2000;Subbotsky, 2002). At the same time, a new type of magical beliefs can emerge in adults -the belief in that magic powers can affect special types of objects -fantastic and PERSIM objects.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In light of the present study, it can be argued that the development of magical beliefs conforms to a more complex model. While diminishing and gradually disappearing in older children, the belief in the efficacy of magic powers over the physical world may indeed remain in the back of one's mind (Nemeroff and Rozin, 2000;Subbotsky, 2002). At the same time, a new type of magical beliefs can emerge in adults -the belief in that magic powers can affect special types of objects -fantastic and PERSIM objects.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This is consistent with other work, in which people tend to be cautious of things that are 'magically dangerous' (Subbotsky & Quinteros, 2002) or essentially corrupted (Nemeroff & Rozin, 1994;Rohrbaugh & Jessor, 1975;Rozin, Millman, & Nemeroff, 1986;Savani, Kumar, Naidu, & Dweck, 2011). However, calling an action a blessing increased preference for acted-upon objects in Block 1 and 2, but not in Block 3.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 90%
“…An even leaner interpretation is that participants interpret this information as a set of social instructions (which might also be considered a kind of demand effect) -it is as if the actor is saying "Blessing are good, and I want you to take this one". In any event, the fact that goal information influence behaviour is interesting, and is broadly consistent with observations of real world behaviour (as well as conceptually replicating findings from the field of sympathetic magic; see: (Nemeroff & Rozin, 1994;Rozin et al, 1986;Savani et al, 2011;Subbotsky & Quinteros, 2002) even if it does not replicate the nuances of previous object-directed ritual action findings.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 71%
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“…The Ghost in the Machine 137 Human Development 2011;54: [126][127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140][141][142][143] of being damaged as a result of the magic spell, were repeated with uneducated adult inhabitants of a rural area in central Mexico [Subbotsky & Quinteros, 2002]. As predicted, in both conditions, the majority of Mexican participants exhibited the belief in magic both in their verbal explanations of 'magical' effects and in their behavioral reactions.…”
Section: Effect 7: In Contrast To Educated Adults Living In Industriamentioning
confidence: 99%