Many athletes use superstitious rituals to manage their emotions and cope with uncertainty before competing. A study from Thailand suggests that such habits make only a small difference to anxiety overall, but that rituals shared with teammates and coaches may help athletes feel more confident.
The study, published in The Open Psychology Journal, was carried out by Apiluk Theanthong, Sutima Suwankan, and Dr Supatcharin Kemarat of the Department of Sports Science and Sports Development at Thammasat University. It looked at 138 collegiate athletes, 98 men and 40 women, aged 18–20. All had qualified for the semifinal round of the national Thailand University Games 2022, and they represented 21 sports, most commonly futsal and football.
About an hour before competing, the athletes completed a questionnaire on their superstitious rituals and a standard measure of competitive anxiety. The anxiety measure covers bodily symptoms such as tension, worrying thoughts, and self-confidence.
The rituals were grouped into several types. These included clothing and appearance, pre-game routines, game-day rituals, team rituals, prayer, and rituals involving the coach.
Bodily anxiety was linked to clothing and appearance, prayer, and coach-related rituals. Worrying thoughts were linked to team rituals, prayer, and coach factors.
Self-confidence showed the widest range of links. It was associated with pre-game routines, game-day rituals, team rituals, prayer, and coach factors.
When the researchers looked at how well rituals predicted anxiety, the effects were small. Coach-related rituals explained about 6% of bodily anxiety, while team rituals explained 3% of worrying thoughts and 9% of self-confidence.
Men and women were largely similar. The only significant difference was that men scored higher on rituals related to clothing and appearance. There were no gender differences in the other rituals or in competitive anxiety.
The authors say that although superstitious rituals had limited predictive power overall, the rituals tied to team processes and coaches may still serve a useful psychological purpose. They may help athletes regulate their emotions and feel ready to perform.
The authors note that athletes often adopt coping strategies such as rituals to regain a sense of control when uncertainty and demanding conditions heighten stress before competition.
The study has limits. It was cross-sectional and relied on self-report, so it cannot show cause and effect. The athletes were all Thai and chosen through purposive sampling, most played team sports, and men outnumbered women, so the authors urge caution in applying the findings to athletes from other cultural or religious backgrounds.
For coaches, the authors suggest that rituals linked to team processes and coaching involvement may support emotional regulation and confidence in competitive settings. Because the design was cross-sectional, they stress that the results do not imply cause and effect, and they call for longitudinal and experimental studies to better understand the role of rituals in athletes’ psychological preparation and performance.
