A recent YouGov poll asked Americans whether they believe in 30 good- and bad-luck superstitions, ranging from four-leaf clovers and wishbones to broken mirrors and Friday the 13th. People were, on average, more likely to believe in superstitions thought to bring good luck than they were to believe in ones thought to bring bad luck.
The three good-luck superstitions polled that the largest share of Americans say they believe in are making a wish while blowing out birthday candles (28%), seeing a shooting star (28%), and saying bless you when someone sneezes (27%). The three bad-luck superstitions believed by the greatest share of people include walking under a ladder (21%), broken mirrors (21%), and the number 666 (21%).
In addition, we find that 12% of Americans say they always or frequently carry or wear a lucky charm. Another 19% say they occasionally or rarely do this, and 64% say they never do.
Our survey also asked a broader question about whether there is anything people consider themselves superstitious about. Below, we display the share of different groups of Americans who answered yes to this question:
— Carl Bialik, Linley Sanders, and Allen Houston contributed to this article
This poll was conducted on April 26 - 30, 2022, among 1,000 U.S. adult citizens. Explore more on the methodology and data for this poll.
Image: Vitezslav Vylicil
