Many people believe in superstitions - whether it’s a black cat crossing your path, passing under a ladder or living in apartment number 13. The causes assigned to people believing in these irrational predictors have so far been along the lines of religion, tradition or custom.

Children, for instance, mimic their parents in everything, and superstitions aren’t an exception. “Old wives’ tales” are usually proven true by your grandparent’s sister’s neighbor’s long distant cousin – for some, it’s enough to start panicking when they break a mirror, act believed to cause an unlucky streak for seven years straight.

Recently, studies have been conducted in order to finally shed light on why the most level-headed people sometimes begin to act erratic for no apparent logical reason. Behavior specialists and professors from top universities have studied this phenomenon and they seem to have found some answers to one of the most popular, age-old questions – why do people believe in superstitions?

So far, it has been concluded that lack of control (or the mere impression of it) causes people to search for strength in other places than their inner core and their self-confidence. You’ve all heard about the peculiar rituals baseball players submit themselves to in order to not strike out. Even the most cynical of people – such as stock analysts – start seeing paranormal activity in the most ordinary market trends.

Some of the tests conducted included a group of people being asked a series of questions and upon answering them, half of the group was told they were wrong. The group was then asked to spot images in a series of dotted patterns. Those who were told they were wrong saw images in the pictures where there were none. The conclusion of the study is that people who feel they start losing control want to find order. The patterns they desperately seek apparently improve their state of mind.