Lucky Charms

If you have something important coming up, like a company presentation, you might want to take your lucky charm along with you.

Lucky rabbit's foot, special coin, old t-shirt. Many of us have some type of lucky object. But, does having these really do any good? According to a new series of studies, it looks they might actually help you perform better.

One group of researchers noticed star athletes frequently had lucky shirts or shorts, or didn't shave so they could carry a lucky beard during playoffs. So they set out to see if that type of thing worked. They asked a group of volunteers to bring in a lucky charm and give them up to be photographed. They only returned the charm to half of the group. Then they had them take a computerized memory test. The ones with lucky charms did much better.

Other researchers found something similar---people doing better when they had their lucky charm with them, or when they were told “good luck” before a task.

Although this technique isn't foolproof, scientist believe that having some type of “lucky Charm” with them gives people a little bit of confidence in whatever they are doing. And that confidence helps them do better. So next time you have an important presentation to give, or need to ask for a raise or promotion, stick your lucky charm in your pocket. It might help give you that slight edge.