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Magical Thinking

What is magical thinking?

The word magic is common in both scholarly and lay discourse, the variety of things to which it refers is far-reaching, ranging from a social institution characteristic of traditional societies, to sleight-of-hand or parlor tricks, to belief in unconventional phenomena such as UFOs and ESP, to sloppy thinking or false beliefs, and even to a state of romance, wonder, or the mysterious.

The social psychologist, James Alcock, defined magical thinking as the interpreting of two closely occurring events, as though one caused the other, without any concern for the causal link.

Magical thinking is the interpreting of two closely occurring events, as though one caused the other, without any concern for the causal link. James Alcock

Zusne and Jones (1989, p. 13) conceptualized magical thinking as:

  • a belief that transfer of energy or information between physical systems may take place solely because of their similarity or contiguity in time and space,
  • or a belief that one’s thoughts, words, or actions can achieve specific physical effects in a manner not governed by the principles of ordinary transmission of energy or information.

Magical thinking involves reasoning without knowledge of, or on the basis of some sort of misconception about, causality, or about natural laws more generally. For example, if you believe that crossing your fingers brought you good fortune, you have associated the act of finger crossing with the subsequent welcome event, and imputed a causal link between the two.

See also:
  1. Vikan, A., & Clausen, S. E. (1993). Frued, Piaget, or neither? Beliefs in controlling others by wishful thinking and magical behavior in young children. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 154(3), 297-314.
  2. Zusne, L., & Jones, W. H. (1989). Anomalistic psychology: A study of magical thinking. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
  3. Subbotsky, E. V. (1994). Early rationality and magical thinking in preschoolers: Space and time. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12, 97-108.
  4. Rozin, P., Markwith, M., & Ross, B. (1990). The sympathetic magical law of similarity, nominal realism, and neglect of negatives in response to negative labels. Psychological Science, 1(6), 383-384.
  5. Rosengren, K. S., Kalish, C. W., Hickling, A. K., & Gelman, S. A. (1994). Exploring the relation between preschool children’s magical beliefs and causal thinking. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12 (1), 69-71.
  6. Langer, E. J. (1975). The illusion of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 311-328.
  7. Jahoda, G. (1969). The psychology of superstition. New York: Penguin.
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