A Study on the believes and behaviors that are applied in sacred places and qualified superstitious among the people in terms of social psychology

ABSTRACTThis study examined how superstitious believes and behaviors applied in thesacred places arise, function and persist in the social life at the social psychological levelof analysis. The method of the study includes gathering data and the researcher?spersonal observations in relation to the subject.In the first part of the study, the several definitions of superstitious believes andbehaviors have been brought together. At this point such qualities as subjectivity,emotionality, discord between cause and result, deviation from the reality in anunreasonable amount have been described as basic ones; and also it was emphasisedthat qualifing a belief whether it is superstitious or not depend on the appraisal made byan observer.In the second part, two grups of factor that cause the deviation from the objectivephenomena and the arising of superstition were considered: cultural and psychologicalfactors. Under the title of ?cultural factors?, the qualification of physical environment inwhich the individual lives was conducted in terms of variables that supply necessaryphenomena in creating superstition. Indirect and complex effect of environment havebeen examined in the light of various theoretical approaches. Under the title of?psychological factors?, the concept of ?ego? was dealt.The theme of functions of superstition was considered in both coping with anxietyand supporting the cultural constancy. The trend of stability in the superstitious believeshas been explained by means of four grups of basic factors: these were called perceptualdistinctiveness, cognitive constancy, the tendency of avoidance of conflicts and socialsupport.