The creation of a superstitious belief regarding putters in a laboratory-based golfing task

Abstract

The objective was to determine the extent to which it was possible to induce superstitious behaviour and beliefs in a golf putting task in a laboratory. Participants (N = 28) took part in a putting task using three identical clubs in which visual feedback regarding performance was restricted. Participants were provided with verbal feedback of their performance, which was honest when they used one putter, negative with a second putter (they did better than they were told) and positive with a third (they did worse than they were told). After this initial acquisition phase, a competition was announced and participants were asked to select a putter they would like to use. The participants were then asked to rate various qualities of the putters. Significantly more participants selected the “positive” putter for the competition (N = 22) compared to the “negative” putter (N = 1), p