magical thinking
Belief affects reality
Magical thinking is the belief that one's thoughts, words, or rituals can influence events without a causal connection—that wishing makes it so, or that stepping on a crack really might break your mother's back.
The term appears in psychology and anthropology to describe both childhood cognition and adult superstition: She knew it was magical thinking, but she couldn't bring herself to say the wedding date out loud.
The phrase often carries a dismissive edge, implying self-delusion: The idea that tax cuts pay for themselves is magical thinking.
Prophetic indicator
- talismanMagical protective charm
- amuletWorn protective token
- charmAttractive personal quality
- hexMalevolent incantation
jinx · curse · luck · ritual · taboo · voodoo · divination · astrology
Stubbornly held false belief
- fallacyError in reasoning
- illogicalContrary to valid reasoning
- biasUnfair inclination or prejudice
- cognitive distortionBiased mental interpretation pattern
irrational · apophenia · confirmation bias · correlation · causation · confabulation · misconception · false belief
Address to deity
- faithTrust without proof
- miracleSupernatural occurrence beyond explanation
- blessingPrayer seeking divine favor
- karmaSpiritual cause and effect
providence · synchronicity · fate · destiny · divine intervention · sacred · transcendence · mysticism
Feeling positive expectation
- optimisticExpecting positive results
- idealisticPursuing unrealistic standards
- dreamyVague and pleasantly distracted
- denialRefusal to accept reality
avoidance · rationalization · self-deception · manifestation · law of attraction · affirmation · visualization · hoping
Made-up childhood confidant
- monster under bedImagined nocturnal bedroom threat
- Santa ClausLegendary yuletide gift-giver
- tooth fairyMythical incisor purchaser
- make-believeImaginative play or fantasy
pretend · wishing well · birthday candles · security blanket · transitional object · animism · invisible · imaginary
omen
Prophetic indicator
hex · jinx · curse · luck · ritual · taboo · voodoo · divination · astrology · numerology
delusion
Stubbornly held false belief
cognitive distortion · irrational · apophenia · confirmation bias · correlation · causation · confabulation · misconception · false belief · erroneous
prayer
Address to deity
- faithTrust without proof
- miracleSupernatural occurrence beyond explanation
- blessingPrayer seeking divine favor
karma · providence · synchronicity · fate · destiny · divine intervention · sacred · transcendence · mysticism · cosmic order
hopeful
Feeling positive expectation
- optimisticExpecting positive results
- idealisticPursuing unrealistic standards
- dreamyVague and pleasantly distracted
denial · avoidance · rationalization · self-deception · manifestation · law of attraction · affirmation · visualization · hoping · wishing
imaginary friend
Made-up childhood confidant
- monster under bedImagined nocturnal bedroom threat
- Santa ClausLegendary yuletide gift-giver
- tooth fairyMythical incisor purchaser
make-believe · pretend · wishing well · birthday candles · security blanket · transitional object · animism · invisible · imaginary · fantasy play
- mindsetsgrowth mindset, fixed mindset, mindset, abundance mindset, scarcity mindset
- Misconceptionsmisconception, myth, fallacy, false belief, mistaken belief
- superstitionssuperstition, superstitions, hexes, black cats, broken mirror
- coping mechanismsrepression, denial, projection, sublimation, rationalization
- OCDOCD, obsession, obsessions, compulsion, compulsions
- Psychiatric Symptomshallucinations, delusions, paranoia, psychosis, flat affect
magical thinkingevidence-based reasoning
Logic anchored to facts
rational thinking · empiricism · critical thinking · logical reasoning · scientific method
magical thinkingrationality
Sound judgment quality
realism · pragmatism · level-headedness · acceptance · stoicism
magical thinkingnaturalism
Worldview excluding the supernatural
materialism · scientific worldview · physicalism · realism · disenchantment
magic, think, magical, thinking, magician, thinker, enchanting, thinks, rethink