The growing psychology of magic field explores how spectators understand, appreciate, and experience this ancient performing art. The present research explored how skeptical, superstitious, and paranormal beliefs predict the enjoyment of magic. A sample of American adults ( n = 292) completed a measure of magic attitudes (the Loathing of Legerdemain Scale) along with many measures of (1) skeptical and rational beliefs (e.g., critical thinking and trust in science), and (2) superstitious and paranormal beliefs (e.g., luck, conspiracy theories, and paranormal topics like astrology, psi, witchcraft, and spiritualism). Random forests identified the most important unique predictors of magic attitudes within this large, intercorrelated predictor set. Consistent with past research and with magicians’ experiences, enjoying magic was marked by seemingly opposing clusters of beliefs—one marked by higher critical thinking, and another marked by higher superstitious and paranormal beliefs—highlighting the variety of psychological underpinnings for the enjoyment of magic.

中文翻译：

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态度和 Abracadabra：怀疑、迷信和超自然的信念如何预测享受表演魔术？


日益增长的魔术心理学领域探讨了观众如何理解、欣赏和体验这种古老的表演艺术。本研究探讨了怀疑、迷信和超自然的信念如何预测魔法的乐趣。美国成年人样本 （n = 292） 完成了一项魔法态度的测量（对 Legerdemain 量表的厌恶）以及 （1） 怀疑和理性信念（例如，批判性思维和对科学的信任）和 （2） 迷信和超自然信念（例如，运气、阴谋论和超自然话题，如占星术、灵能、巫术和招魂术）。随机森林在这个大型、相互关联的预测因子集中确定了魔法态度的最重要独特预测因子。与过去的研究和魔术师的经验一致，享受魔法的特点是看似对立的信念集群——一个以更高的批判性思维为标志，另一个以更高的迷信和超自然信念为标志——突出了享受魔法的多种心理基础。