Abstract:
Superstitious behavior and beliefs are evident in all sports. The present study
examines the self-report of superstitious behavior among 120 male professional
footballers in Ghana. The Superstitious Ritual Questionnaire and Sport Attributional
Style Scale were the instruments used to measured superstitious behavior and
attributional styles of elite Ghanaian footballers. Significant negative correlations (p<.
05) were found between number of rituals and scores for positive-internality (-0.27)
and negative-internality (-0.17). A significant positive correlation was found between
superstitious behaviour and positive-controlllability (0.20). Simple correlations and
multiple regression showed that scores for attributional styles significantly but weakly
predicted scores on the Superstition Ritual Questionnaire, accounting for 11% of the
variance with the latter measured.
This is important in understanding professional footballers‟ usage of superstitious
rituals. Follow up work needs to address cross-cultural differences among Africans
and Western professional athletes.
