The structure of superstitious action – A further analysis of fresh evidence

Wiseman and Watt’s short scales of positive and negative superstitions have attracted attention in the literature. Using a representative survey of the Australian state of Queensland, the six scale items were applied to 1243 respondents. Initial investigation using Cronbach’s alpha showed that one of the scales did not function properly. A factor analysis suggested that a four-item and a two-item scale best fitted the data. A Rasch analysis of all the items confirmed this, and showed that the conventional five-category response format was not appropriate, and that three categories fit the data better. The main conclusion is that the results do not support the Wiseman–Watt theory of three positive and three negative superstitions. It does not seem advisable to use these scales without substantial reformulation and re-testing.