Causes and Consequences For the Belief in Tempting Fate
The present research explores the belief that it is bad luck to “tempt fate.” First, we demonstrate that people have the intuition that tempting fate will increase the likelihood of a negative outcome. Second, we argue that the belief is due, in large part, to the combination of the automatic tendencies to attend to negative prospects and to use accessibility as a cue when judging likelihood. Finally, we demonstrate that when the belief is made salient, people avoid the types of behaviors that are thought to tempt fate.
Citation:
Jane Risen and Thomas Gilovich (2009) ,"Causes and Consequences For the Belief in Tempting Fate", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36, eds. Ann L. McGill and Sharon Shavitt, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 31-35.
Authors
Jane Risen, University of Chicago, USA
Thomas Gilovich, Cornell University, USA
Volume
NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36 | 2009
Share Proceeding
Featured papers
See MoreFeatured
Gossip: How The Relationship With the Source Shapes the Retransmission of Personal Content
Gaia Giambastiani, Bocconi University, Italy
Andrea Ordanini, Bocconi University, Italy
Joseph Nunes, University of Southern California, USA
Featured
L11. Consumer Search Mode Produces Unintended Marketing Consequences
Dan King, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, USA
Sumitra Auschaitrakul, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce
Featured
From Novice to Know-it-All: How Google-Based Financial Learning Affects Financial Confidence and Decisions
Adrian Ward, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Tito L. H. Grillo, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Philip M. Fernbach, University of Colorado, USA