LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Check your calendars. It’s Friday the 13th. And if reading that sent a shiver down your spine, I can officially diagnose you. You have paraskevidekatriaphobia. Because, yes, we apparently have to have a name for everything these days.
I know some of you guys are rolling your eyes right now, but 1 out 4 Americans told Gallup they are at least somewhat superstitious—so, let’s find out why they think Friday the 13th is so unlucky.
Like most myths, it’s hard to track down its exact origins. Many experts, though, think its roots are in Christianity. Christians believe that Jesus was crucified on a Friday; and, Christian legend has it that Judas—the apostle who would go on to betray Jesus—was the 13th guest at the Last Supper. And voila: both Fridays and 13s became bad omens. The superstitions took hold fast: as early as the Middle Ages, we see people refusing to get married or embark on long voyages on Fridays.
Flash forward to today: we have data to peruse. Let’s investigate whether or not Friday the 13th is actually unlucky.
If you invest in the stock market, it just might be. The group LPL Financial analyzed market performance going back to 1928, and found that the S&P 500 actually did show slower gains than other Fridays (though, it was a difference between 0.02% and 0.05%, so let’s keep things in perspective).
If, on the other hand, you’re more concerned about injuries and ER visits than your stock portfolio, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Researchers in Germany analyzed hospital numbers, and found there is no increase on Friday the 13th.
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