پژوهشهای راهبردی مسائل اجتماعی ایران (Dec 2019)
Studying the Feeling of Social and Psychological Security with a Tendency toward Superstition (Case Study: Isfahan University Students)
Abstract
Introduction Superstition as a cultural category in any society is one of the aspects of the spiritual culture of that society that has social damages and psychological consequences. Also, it affects every stratum of society in a variety of ways and forms appropriate to time and place. Although the prevalence of supernaturalism seems to decrease with the increase in the level of literacy and public culture of the society, even modern humans cannot completely reject or actually get rid of superstition. Superstition has its special place in nations, within them there are still some people who are following the superstitions of their previous generations and transferring these superstitions to their next generation. In fact, in the mind of each human there are beliefs that are incompatible with any scientific logic and that their beliefs cannot be understood with any rational justification. But, these beliefs exist and sometimes find functions in life that can change the course of one’s life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of social and psychological security on the tendency toward superstition among Isfahan University students. Research showed that although students were the educated and the future-maker group of the country, superstitious beliefs have always been found among them. The theoretical framework for the research has been based on theories of Pareto’s Irrationality, Weber's Traditional and Irrational Behavior, Maslow's sense of psychological security, and Ingelhart's Social Security. Superstition has become widespread in response to the insecurities of individuals in life. In fact, it is an inevitable attempt to influence the future course of events to make things enjoyable. Material & Methods The statistical population of the study included all students of Isfahan University in 2018 (1397 AH). The population size was 14375 and the sample size was 375 using Cochran formula, among them 400 questionnaires were distributed. The sampling method was quota sampling from each faculty. In the present study, content validity was based on the endorsement of articles by specialists and experts. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used for assessing reliability. The alpha coefficients for the variables of feeling of psychological security, social security, and the tendency toward superstition were 0.771, 0.745, and 0.766, respectively. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire and the findings were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS software. The results showed that the mean of mental security was 28.03 and social security was 34.56 which were 1.7 and 1.44 lower than the total mean, respectively. The mean of superstitions was 41.21 with the standard deviation of 2.21 higher than the mean. The relationship between psychological security with the tendency toward superstition (-0.317) and social security relationship with superstition (-0.145) was directly and negatively confirmed. In regression analysis, in order to determine the equation with which to predict superstitions, we obtained an equation with variables of psychological security, social security, gender and employment status. Finally, 22.5% of the variance of the dependent variable was explained by this equation. Discussion of Results & Conclusions The results indicated that there was a significant relationship between the variable of feeling of psychological security and social security and tendency toward superstition. In fact, the obtained data supported the main hypothesis of the above research. Namely, those students who had the least sense of economic security, uncertainty about the future, lack of happiness, and other micro-dimensions of psychological security and social security showed the highest tendency for superstition. The relationship of psychological and social security with the tendency for superstition was different for men and women, different ethnicities, educational levels and unemployed persons, with women, unemployed, undergraduates and ethnic Lur being more prone to superstition.
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