Culture & Folklore Quiz · 25 Cards
Superstitions Quiz: Lucky and Unlucky Beliefs Worldwide Draw a card, test your luck, and learn where the world’s strangest omens come from
From skipped hotel floors in Seoul to midnight grapes in Madrid, people everywhere have little rituals for courting good fortune and dodging bad. How many do you actually know?
✦Why Superstitions Still Matter
Most of us would say we don’t believe in luck. Yet plenty of people still knock on wood after saying something hopeful, hesitate before walking under a ladder, or feel a tiny jolt when a calendar flips to Friday the 13th. Superstitions are stubborn because they are rarely about logic. They are about comfort, belonging, and a feeling of control in a world that often offers very little of it.
They are also a surprisingly good window into history and language. Many of the beliefs in this quiz grew out of wordplay (a number that sounds like “death”), old religious symbolism, or practical rules that outlived their original purpose. Learn why a culture avoids something, and you often learn how that culture thinks about family, money, death, and the new year.
This quiz takes you on a quick tour across East Asia, Europe, Latin America, South Asia, and the Philippines. Each card comes with a short explanation, so even a wrong answer teaches you something worth repeating at your next dinner party.
A quick note: Superstitions vary from family to family and region to region, even within one country. The beliefs below are described as cultural traditions, not as facts about luck, and they don’t apply to everyone who lives in the places mentioned.
✦How to Play & Score Your Luck
The quiz is laid out like a deck of fortune cards. Read each card, pick one of four answers, and the card instantly reveals its lore. If you get stuck, tap “Ask the crystal ball” for a gentle clue that nudges you without giving the answer away.
- Every correct answer adds 4 Luck Points and a 🍀 to your collection, for a maximum Luck Score of 100.
- Every miss earns a 💔 “broken mirror,” but don’t worry, there are no seven-year penalties here.
- Chain correct answers together to build your Lucky Streak, shown on your results card.
Your final score unlocks one of six fortune ranks:
☂️Umbrella Opened Indoors0–20 points
🧂Spilled the Salt24–40 points
🐾Crossed by a Black Cat44–60 points
🔮Crystal-Ball Gazer64–80 points
🍀Four-Leaf Clover Finder84–96 points
🌟Grand Oracle of Good FortuneA perfect 100
The 25-Card Superstitions Quiz
Shuffle your doubts, draw your first card, and see how lucky you really are.
Card I of XXV
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✦The Psychology Behind Superstitions
Why would perfectly rational people tap a table or carry a lucky coin? Psychologists have been poking at that question for decades, and a few ideas keep coming up.
We hate uncertainty
In the early 20th century, the anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski noticed that Trobriand Islanders used few rituals when fishing in a calm, predictable lagoon but performed far more magic before risky open-sea voyages. The pattern still holds: superstitious behavior tends to rise when stakes are high and outcomes are out of our hands, which is why athletes, students on exam day, gamblers, and performers are famously ritual-prone.
The brain loves patterns, even false ones
In a well-known 1948 experiment, behaviorist B.F. Skinner fed hungry pigeons at regular intervals no matter what they did. Many birds started repeating whatever movement they happened to be making when food appeared, turning in circles or bobbing their heads, as if the ritual caused the reward. Humans do something similar when a “lucky” shirt happens to coincide with a win.
A feeling of control
Psychologist Ellen Langer coined the term illusion of control in the 1970s to describe our tendency to believe we can influence chance events. A small ritual gives the mind something to do with its anxiety. A 2010 study by Lysann Damisch and colleagues even reported that people told they were using a “lucky” golf ball sank more putts. However, later replication attempts, including one by Robert Calin-Jageman and Tracy Caldwell in 2014, did not find the same effect, so the jury is still out on whether lucky charms measurably boost performance.
Culture and language do the rest
Many superstitions spread simply because of how words sound. When a number is a near-homophone for “death” or “wealth,” it picks up emotional weight that gets passed down through families, architecture, and even phone-number pricing.
✦Lucky & Unlucky Numbers Around the World
Numbers are one of the clearest places to see superstition at work, because they show up in elevator buttons, seat maps, wedding dates, and price tags. Here’s a quick reference to the numbers people around the world love and avoid.
| No. | Where | Reputation | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | China, Japan, Korea | Unlucky | Its pronunciation is close to the word for “death.” Many buildings skip the fourth floor. |
| 6 | China | Lucky | Sounds like a word for “smooth” or “flowing,” suggesting things will go well. |
| 7 | Many Western cultures | Lucky | Tied to the seven days of the week and countless religious and folk references; also famous as a jackpot number. |
| 8 | China | Very lucky | “Bā” resembles “fā,” linked to wealth and prosperity. |
| 9 | Japan / China | Mixed | In Japanese one reading, “ku,” sounds like “suffering.” In Chinese, “jiǔ” sounds like “long-lasting,” so it’s often positive. |
| 13 | Much of the Western world | Unlucky | Long associated with misfortune; many buildings omit a 13th floor label and some airlines skip row 13. |
| 17 | Italy | Unlucky | Roman numeral XVII rearranges into VIXI, Latin for “I have lived,” an epitaph-like phrase. |
Notice how the same number can flip from blessing to curse depending on language. That’s a good reminder that luck is often less about the number itself and more about the stories we tell around it.
✦New Year Luck Rituals Worldwide
No night collects more good-luck customs than New Year’s Eve. A fresh calendar feels like a clean slate, and people everywhere try to tip the odds in their favor before the clock strikes twelve.
Spain
🍇 Twelve grapes
One grape for each midnight chime, ideally eaten in time with the bells broadcast from Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, for twelve lucky months.
Philippines
🍊 Round everything
Families set out a dozen round fruits and wear polka dots because circles resemble coins. Many kids also jump at midnight in the hope of growing taller.
Brazil
🌊 White clothes & seven waves
Beachgoers dress in white and leap over seven waves, a custom linked to offerings for the Afro-Brazilian sea goddess Iemanjá.
Scotland
🥃 First-footing
At Hogmanay, the first guest to cross the threshold after midnight sets the year’s luck, ideally bringing symbolic gifts like coal, salt, or shortbread.
Denmark
🍽️ Smashed plates
Friends toss old dishes at each other’s doors; the bigger the pile in the morning, the more friends you supposedly have. Some Danes also jump off chairs at midnight to “leap” into January.
Japan
🍜 Year-crossing noodles
Many families eat toshikoshi soba on December 31. The long buckwheat noodles are associated with a long life and letting go of the old year’s troubles.
In parts of Latin America, you may also spot people walking around the block with an empty suitcase at midnight, a hopeful bid for a year full of travel.
✦Protective Charms & Amulets
Alongside beliefs about what not to do, nearly every culture has objects meant to attract fortune or block harm. Several of them turn up in the quiz.
- Nazar (Turkey, Greece and beyond): a blue-and-white glass “eye” that is said to deflect the evil eye, the harm believed to come from envious looks.
- Hamsa (Middle East and North Africa): an open-hand symbol, often with an eye at the center, used for protection by people of several faiths.
- Cornicello (Southern Italy): a small, twisted horn-shaped charm, traditionally red, worn to guard against the malocchio, or evil eye.
- Horseshoe (Europe and the Americas): iron was long thought to repel evil spirits; most people hang it with the ends pointing up so the luck doesn’t spill out.
- Maneki-neko (Japan): the “beckoning cat” figurine seen in shops and restaurants, raising a paw to invite customers and good fortune inside.
- Nimbu-mirchi (India): a lemon strung with green chilies, hung at doors, shops and vehicles to ward off bad luck and the evil eye.
✦Are Superstitions Harmful?
For most people, superstitions are harmless and even charming. A lucky sock or a New Year ritual can bring families together, keep traditions alive, and calm nerves before a big moment.
Problems can arise when beliefs start making real decisions for us: skipping medical care in favor of a charm, spending money we can’t spare on “luck,” or letting fear of a date or number cause genuine distress. Some myths, like the long-running Korean belief that electric fans can kill sleepers in closed rooms, have no scientific support at all. If a superstition is causing anxiety or getting in the way of daily life, it’s worth talking it through with someone you trust or a qualified professional.
The healthiest approach is the one most people already take: enjoy the folklore, respect what it means to others, and keep making the important choices with good information.
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✦Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common superstition in the world?
There’s no official global ranking, but beliefs about lucky and unlucky numbers are among the most widespread. Fear of 13 is common across Europe and the Americas, while avoidance of 4 is common across China, Japan, and Korea, affecting how buildings, hospitals, and products are numbered.
Why is Friday the 13th considered unlucky?
Historians aren’t certain. The number 13 and Friday each had negative associations in Christian tradition, but the idea of Friday the 13th as a specifically unlucky combination appears to have become popular mainly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, helped along by books and, later, films.
Is a black cat lucky or unlucky?
It depends on where you are. In much of the United States, a black cat crossing your path is considered a bad omen, but in Britain and Japan black cats are often seen as bringers of good luck.
Why do people knock on wood?
The exact origin is unknown. Popular theories link it to ancient beliefs that spirits lived in trees, or to Christian symbolism of the wooden cross. Whatever the source, it’s now a near-universal way of saying “let’s not jinx it.”
Do lucky charms actually work?
There’s no evidence that charms change chance outcomes. A few studies suggested lucky items might boost confidence and performance, but follow-up research hasn’t reliably confirmed it. Any benefit likely comes from feeling calmer and more confident, not from luck itself.
Can I share this quiz with my students or friends?
Absolutely. Share the page link with your class, family group chat, or trivia night crew and compare Luck Scores.
✦Sources & Further Reading
This article was researched from established reference works and published studies on folklore and the psychology of superstition, then written in original language for general readers.
- Skinner, B.F. (1948). “‘Superstition’ in the Pigeon.” Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38(2), 168–172.
- Langer, E.J. (1975). “The Illusion of Control.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32(2), 311–328.
- Damisch, L., Stoberock, B., & Mussweiler, T. (2010). “Keep Your Fingers Crossed! How Superstition Improves Performance.” Psychological Science, 21(7), 1014–1020.
- Calin-Jageman, R.J., & Caldwell, T.L. (2014). “Replication of the Superstition and Performance Study by Damisch, Stoberock, and Mussweiler (2010).” Social Psychology, 45(3), 239–245.
- Malinowski, B. (1948). Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays.
- Vyse, S.A. (2014). Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition (updated ed.). Oxford University Press.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, entries on “superstition,” “evil eye,” and “Hogmanay.”
Spotted something that needs a correction or a regional nuance we missed? We review reader feedback and update articles when needed.