Psychologist reveals the luck factor

Technology & Science

Professor Richard Wiseman brings a touch of humor to the science of luck

Psychologist reveals the luck factor

Saturday July 1, 2006

By Ben Fahy

Ironically enough, Professor Richard Wiseman, one of Britain's pre-eminent psychologists, has become something of a global good luck charm.

Not in a superstitious sense: rabbits' feet, broken mirrors and black cats mean nothing to this self-confessed sceptic. But in a scientific sense: his pioneering research into luck proved that it isn't just the Fates controlling good or bad fortune. Thoughts and behavior play a far more pivotal role.

Before starting his research, Professor Wiseman thought the number of people who described themselves as either lucky or unlucky was too large to be a random phenomenon, so he attempted to "set the record straight" and placed advertisements in newspapers around Britain seeking consistently lucky and unlucky participants to join in his experiments and be interviewed about key moments in their lives.

"For the most part, these people were making their own luck by the way they were behaving," he says. "There was a very good reason why some people got all the lucky breaks."

Obviously, not everything in life can be controlled (he steers clear of gambling, simply because chance affects all equally), but Professor Wiseman says, more often than not, luck - either good or bad - is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

He identified four simple principles that those leading charmed lives exhibited more regularly - usually without realizing it - than their unfortunate associates: they increased their chance encounters by having networks of friends; they went with their initial instincts; they expected to be lucky; and they could see positives coming from negatives.

As the introduction to Professor Wiseman's best selling book The Luck Factor says: "In short, this book presents that most elusive of holy grails - a scientifically proven way to understand, control, and increase your luck."

Look in the spiritual health section of your local bookstore, however, and you'll likely see hundreds of books claiming to change your life in four easy steps. On first inspection, Professor Wiseman's book appears to be one of them.

But, unlike much of the information being peddled by self-help charlatans, the major difference is that his branch of "positive psychology" can be backed up with scientific proof.

"I'm trying to get science into these areas," he says. "The authors say their advice works, but we don't know if any of it works. For all we know they could be selling snake oil. But psychologists don't tend to research the kinds of things people are actually interested in, and I think The Luck Factor bridged that gap between popular psychology and psychology."

It also connected him with the public by "getting into people's lives". He says this personal contact (he still gets plenty of thank-you emails) is a rare, but rewarding, phenomenon for scientists because, aside from a few notable exceptions, he admits they are often a relatively faceless bunch.

Some may have the potential to change the world, but ask anyone to name a Nobel prize winner from the last few years and watch their eyes glaze over. And this is the problem science communicators face: specialized research, revolutionary or not, isn't as sexy, relevant or interesting as the personal lives of celebrities, which means captivating the huddled masses with the pursuits of academia is a difficult task.

For Professor Wiseman, however, science can appeal to almost everyone, and the scientific process can be applied to almost everything.

As a result of his studies into the paranormal, of which he found no evidence ("The people who believe want proof, but when you conduct an experiment and there is no proof to be found, they criticize the science"), he was dubbed the thinking man's Ghostbusters. But consider his other areas of research, and Professor Wiseman could also be adequately described, as the simple-man's scientist. Unlike many of his academic peers, he is forced to walk among - and study the behavior of - his disciples.

"They are things of interest, like lying, luck, humor and the paranormal, and they make sense to people in a way that psychology doesn't," he says.

Having started out as a professional magician before venturing into the field of psychology (he eventually figured out the audience reactions were more interesting than the magic itself), Professor Wiseman has been able to combine the seemingly disparate realms of "showmanship and science" by "making experiments as dramatic and interactive as possible".

And as part of the New Zealand International Science Festival, which starts today Professor Wiseman will do just that, conducting a mass participation experiment that aims to show the relationship between the month of birth and luck. According to Professor Wiseman, more of those who consider themselves lucky are born in summer than in winter, which he says is related to the temperature around the time of birth.

But how can a concept like luck even be quantified when it seems to depend so much on individual perception?

"People imagine you couldn't do science in these areas. 'Science? It's usually just test tubes and lasers isn't it? You can't test that can you?'," he says.

"But science is just a very interesting way of looking at the world. It's like appreciating a beautiful piece of art."

Because of its subjective nature, he says the field of social psychology is slightly unpredictable. But, by taking an idea (whether it be studying horn honking at green traffic lights to investigate prejudice, or attempting to find the world's funniest joke) and testing it scientifically, the results can be used to find patterns in even the broadest of concepts.

GET LUCKY

Professor Richard Wiseman's keys to good fortune:

* Have a network of friends

* Go with your initial instincts

* Expect to be lucky

* See positives that can come from negatives.