Story highlights Friday the 13th is the most prominent of a group of traditional superstitions, Stuart Vyse writes

Most superstitions arise as a method of coping with uncertainty

Stuart Vyse was professor of psychology at Connecticut College and is the author of "Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition," which won the American Psychological Association's William James Book Award. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author.



This article was originally published in May 2011.

(CNN) Why do we fear today above all other Fridays? On any other Friday, we hear the gleeful exclamation of "TGIF." The work week is almost over, and playtime is about to begin.

But when Friday the 13th arrives, many of us respond quite differently. Travel arrangements are canceled, and doctor appointments are rescheduled. Risky endeavors of all kinds are put off in an effort to avoid tempting fate. Modern Homo sapiens are remarkably sophisticated creatures, capable of writing symphonies, solving the Poincare Conjecture and inventing Nutella, yet we carry around a number of fears that seem to be more characteristic of our ancient past.

Why? And why do we fear Friday the 13th in particular? There are several reasons.

First, it is all but impossible to avoid learning the superstition in the first place. Friday the 13th is perhaps the most prominent of a group of traditional anxiety-heightening superstitions that includes black cats, broken mirrors, stepping on cracks and walking under ladders. This collection of fearsome hobgoblins is an inherent feature of our Western culture, and our families and friends indoctrinate all of us.

Most superstitions arise as a method of coping with uncertainty. We fret about the important things in our lives: our health, our children, our paychecks and our sports teams. All these things are dear to us, and all can be drastically affected in a positive or negative direction by events utterly beyond our control.

Read More