In western superstition, Friday the 13th or Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day and is often associated with horror. Apparently there is a history why Friday the 13th is believed to be an unlucky day.
There are a number of theories as to why Friday the 13th is considered scary. The first theory is connected with the story of the Last Supper in the Bible.
The Last Supper was attended by 13 people, Jesus Christ and 12 of his disciples. The Last Supper took place on Maundy Thursday, the night before the crucifixion of Jesus Christ by Roman soldiers on Good Friday. Therefore, the number 13 is associated with Judas Iscariot, the traitor of Christ.
There is also a theory that this superstition comes from a Viking mythological story from Norway that talks about the 13th guest. It is said that when the gods were having a dinner party, their event was ruined by the arrival of the 13th guest named Loki. As a result, the world fell into darkness and chaos, humanity lived a miserable life.
Well, there have been several attempts to research statistics regarding the belief that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day. As quoted from IFL Science, Friday (13/1/2022) a group of researchers were interested in seeing if they could measure how much people believed in these superstitions, and whether this influenced their behavior.
They did this study by checking traffic flow and accident data. The assumption is that superstitious people will be careful in their behavior, e.g. are people less likely to drive and go shopping on Friday the 13th?
This study, published in the BMJ in 1993, found some tentative evidence that people actually change their behavior on Friday the 13th.
"Fewer people appear to be driving on the roads on Friday the 13th. Approximately 1.4% of the population may be affected by this belief," the research team wrote.
Uniquely, according to the study, hospitalizations due to transportation accidents increased on Friday the 13th even though there were fewer cars on the road.
Although they note that the number of accidents studied is too small to allow meaningful analysis, they suggest larger-scale studies to either support or refute this superstition.
There are several unknown factors that influence road traffic accidents, and there are some oddities about how Friday the 13th crashes are recorded. It's possible that the superstitious person changed their behavior that day, which only made them suggestive and drive unsafely.
"If a change in behavior occurs with increased fear and anxiety, let alone associating it with fate, it can reduce concentration and increase the likelihood of accidents," the study said.
While this is an interesting thought, another study looking at the number of visits to the emergency department (ER) in hospitals found no increase in the number of visits on the 'holy day'.
"While the fear of Friday the 13th may be present, there is no increase in volume (visit to the ER) occurring on Friday the 13th compared to any other study day. For staff working in the ER, working Friday the 13th should be no different from Friday the 13th. others," the researchers wrote.
So, to sum up: there is no real, conclusive evidence that there has been an increase in accidents on Friday the 13th. Some studies have shown the opposite. In addition, people who still believe that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day may experience a form of confirmation bias.