Stuart Vyse is an Americanpsychologist, teacher, speaker and author who specializes in belief in superstitions and critical thinking. He is frequently invited as a speaker and interviewed by the media as an expert on superstitious behavior. His bookBelieving in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition won theAmerican Psychological Association's William James Book Award. He is a Fellow of theAmerican Psychological Association.
As of 2022, Vyse has been living inStonington, Connecticut for two decades, in a building that used to be called the Steamboat Hotel, a landmark of historical value in the community. His research into the building's past and its successive inhabitants became the basis of a book, "Stonington's Steamboat Hotel," which was released in October, 2022.[11][1]
Vyse is frequently sought after by the American news media to explain why people believe in superstitions and how people make financial decisions.[5][12][13][4]Vyse believes superstitions come from a need to have some measure of control over events people hope will happen, or seek to avoid. This behavior is reinforced by the tendency of the human brain todetect patterns in events, even when they're completely due to chance. That motivates people to attribute a favorable outcome to a good-luck charm, for instance. Finding a way to control the outcome of an uncertain situation brings some comfort. While this behavior may help reduce anxiety, it may also cause people to gamble excessively, to base decisions on unreliable techniques such asfortune-telling or to endanger their health, for example by usinghomeopathy rather than actual medication.[5][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]
Vyse suspects superstition may be on the rise, due to a large amount of false information circulating on the internet and insufficient critical thinking skills: "There's a willingness to accept almost anything, which is unfortunate, and promotes superstition".[14] As a skeptic, he has been advocating for public policies based on science[5] and has been critical of populist heads of state such asDonald Trump andJair Bolsonaro.[20]
He used to teach a college-level seminar on critical thinking, logical fallacies and debate argumentation.[17] He has been critical of medical treatments and techniques based onpseudoscience, such as facilitated communication.[21]
Remarking that superstitions are often passed on from parents to their children, Vyse stated that his family, who wereProtestant, did not indulge in superstition when he was growing up and he was never superstitious himself.[5][22][23]
Vyse, Stuart (2022).Stonington's Steamboat Hotel. History Press.ISBN978-1467152952.
Vyse, Stuart (2022).The Uses of Delusion: Why It's Not Always Rational to Be Rational. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0190079857.
Vyse, Stuart (2020).Superstition: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0198819257.[12][24]
Vyse, Stuart (2018). "Chapter 8: The Environment and Consumer Behavior". In Sloan Devlin, Ann (ed.).Environmental Psychology and Human Well-Being: Effects of Built and Natural Settings. Academic Press.ISBN978-0128114810.
Vyse, Stuart (2015). "Chapter 1: Where Do Fads Come From?". In Foxx, Richard M. (ed.).Controversial Therapies for Autism and Intellectual Disabilities: Fad, Fashion, and Science in Professional Practice, 2nd Edition. Routledge.ISBN978-1315754345.
Vyse, Stuart (2018).Going Broke: Why Americans (still) Can't Hold On To Their Money (Updated ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0190677848.
Vyse, Stuart (2013).Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition (Updated ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0199996926.
Vyse was awarded the 1999 William James Book Award by the American Psychological Association forBelieving in Magic.[12][13]
