Effect of Education in the Superstitious Beliefs of Tribals and Non-Tribals

Abstract

Superstitious beliefs have been an influential factor in the lives of people over long periods of time. Even in the 21st century, superstition hasn’t been eradicated from the entire world. Though the growth of science has influenced people to understand the truth behind superstitions, a half-belief in the concept prevails in the majority. The uncivilized, uneducated and traditional population within the countries have been a major source of propagation of such beliefs without accepting the changes and truth of science and technology. The present study thus focuses upon such tribal populations to know the influence of education in their superstitious beliefs. The difference in superstitious beliefs within the general and tribal population is analyzed in the study along with the effect of education upon the superstitious beliefs within the two different populations. A total of 175 samples including educated and uneducated tribal and non-tribals from Thrissur and Ernakulam districts of Kerala were considered for the study. The Superstition scale developed by Mahfuzul Huque and Ataharal Chowdhary were the tool used for the analysis and it revealed that Tribals was more superstitious than the general population. It also revealed that Tribals showed lower superstition than uneducated Tribals, clarifying that education is an influential factor in the superstition of both the general and tribal populations.