Activating a positive superstitious belief can boost people's confidence, which in turn improves performance.
In an experiment, a dexterity task that normally took more than 5 minutes was accomplished in just 191.5 seconds, on average, if participants were wished good luck before they started it, according to research led by Lysann Damisch of the University of Cologne in Germany. Before trying to roll 36 little balls into little holes in a transparent plastic cube, the participants were told by a researcher, "I press the thumbs for you," the German equivalent of "My fingers are crossed for you."