Absolute and relative judgments in relation to strength of belief in good luck

• Koshi Murakami

  Kobe Yamate University

The Belief in Good Luck scale is used to measure strength of belief in good luck, which is perceived as a personal ability. However, in this scale those who recognize individual differences but have only a weak belief in their own good luck (weak group) are not taken into account. In this study, I defined the weak group in terms of social comparison. Respondents answered questionnaires regarding possibility in 2 types of scenario: a) when the objective probability was the same, but the probability assigned to others differed, and b) for the occurrence of an uncertain event. The results indicated that, compared with those in the strong group, the weak group tended to elevate the likelihood of success based on the assigned probability of others. I also found differences in assessments for the occurrence of an uncertain event. The results point to the difficulty in measuring the idea of strength of belief in good luck as only a single factor linked to strength or weakness.

1. Koshi Murakami, Kobe Yamate University
   Faculty of Contemporary Society

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