Who Enjoys Magic?

New research found two diametrically opposing personalities enjoy magic.

Hello from MAGIC Live in Vegas. MAGIC Live is one of the biggest magic conventions in the world, and this is my first one. It’s very exciting! As I’m here meeting some of my magic heros, I am feeling inspired to write about a new study that recently came across my desk.

If I asked you to imagine what sort of human creature enjoys magic, what images enter your head? I’m genuinely curious! For me, it’s probably nerds and geeks like me that flash before my imaginary lens. :) A new study conducted by creativity researcher Paul Silva and his colleagues set out to systematically address this question.

Using a diverse sample of American adults, the researchers explored how a wide range of rational, paranormal, supernatural, and superstitious beliefs might predict attitudes toward magic.

In particular, they measured:

• Attitudes toward magic (e.g., “I love watching magicians perform tricks”)

• Critical thinking and trust in science (e.g., “I use more than one source to find out information for myself” and “I usually check the credibility of the source of information before making judgments”)

• Belief in luck (e.g., “Belief in luck is completely sensible)

• Paranormal beliefs, which consisted of five sub scales: Psi (“Some individuals are able to levitate (lift) objects through mental forces”), Witchcraft (“Black magic really exists”), Superstition (“The number 13 is unlucky”), Spiritualism (“It is possible to communicate with the dead”), Precognition (“Some psychics can accurately predict the future”).

• Religious and political views

What did they find?

The paradoxical enjoyment of magic

First off, what correlates with attitudes toward magic? Here a graph of how a bunch of variables are associated with a loathing of magic (yes, there are many people out there who loath magic!).

As you can see, positive attitudes toward magic were associated with higher critical thinking, belief in luck, and a greater endorsement of many facets of paranormal beliefs (such as spiritualism, precognition, and superstition). People were more likely to dislike magic if they were older, and men tend to like magic a lot more than women (which explains why virtually everyone at this MAGIC Live convention are middle-aged men with beer guts).

This is all well and good, but what were the most important predictors? The researchers used a fancy statistical technique called “random forest models” to identify the most important unique effects in the overlapping set of predictors (I must admit, the phrase “random forest models” sounds magical itself!). Using this statistical technique here’s what they found:

Turns out, the most important predictor of enjoying magic by far was reflective skepticism, which included items such as “I usually check the credibility of the source of information before making judgments” and “I often re-evaluate my experiences so that I can learn from them.” Perhaps one major source of enjoying magic is the fun of solving a puzzle and trying to “figure it out”. Intellectually curious people who love puzzles might be particularly attracted to magic.

As you can see in the graph, reflective skepticism was followed by spiritualism, paranormal beliefs in the existence of luck and in one’s personal luckiness, critical openness, and conspiracist beliefs. Out of the five facets of paranormal beliefs the only one that was uniquely important was spiritualism. This facet involves beliefs about a spirit detaching from the body, such as by traveling while the person is alive (e.g., “Your mind or soul can leave your body and travel such as astral projection”). Interestingly, spiritualism is the one facet of paranormal beliefs that most fascinated the great Harry Houdini! In fact, just a few years before his death he published an entire treatise condemning “fake spiritualism”.

This is so interesting! It seems like two seemingly opposing personalities enjoy magic performances. On the one hand we have the family of skeptical, rational folk and on the other hand we have the family of superstitious and paranormal folk who enjoy magical performances.

As one of my favorite magicians Joshua Jay has noted, some audience members really do believe that magicians are doing “real magic”. In research he conducted with Dr. Lisa Grimm and her team, they found that nearly 40% of people think it might be possible to do real magic (see “What Do Audiences Really Think?”).

Magicians are divided on how exactly to treat this state of affairs. I know some magicians who think it’s unethical to let an audience member believe they are doing real magic. But I have one magician friend who I respect a lot who bills himself as a “3rd generation psychic” tell me that some audience members believe he is really a psychic and no matter what he says they won’t not believe it’s real magic. He thinks it’s fine to let them keep their beliefs. As he put it,

“It’s fine to keep their beliefs because most if not all came with those very beliefs. My job is to entertain not teach or challenge. Who am I to tell my audience how to think?”

In my view, magic is for everyone— the most die-hard skeptics and rationalists among us as well as though who may actually be tapping into a supernatural dimension of reality (or who at least believe it’s possible).

Just enjoy the magic. That’s all that matters.