Picture a world where the U.S. had only 45 states, where women could not vote, where the television and the radio did not exist. It is hard to imagine such a place, but it did exist. It existed 108 years ago when the Chicago Cubs last won the World Series (Cooper). Since then fans have looked near and far for an explanation as to why their beloved team could not win the World Championship. The most common and widely accepted cause for the Cubs’ failure is the Curse of the Billy Goat. Although the Chicago Cubs stunned America by breaking the Curse of the Billy Goat in 2016, it is still relevant because of its continued effect on the American public.
In order to fully understand the Curse of the Billy Goat, the history of the Chicago Cubs …show more content…
Several psychologists have researched the science behind the public’s fascination with the curse and have come up with several explanations. First they offer causal reasoning as a cause of the curse’s popularity. Humans have a natural desire to understand why things happen, and causal reasoning is the result of this need. When things don’t make sense people can see patterns and connections that don’t actually exist. For many fans the Cubs’ failure to reach the World Series did not make any sense, so to rationalize what occurred they looked for a pattern. What they found was that the last time the Cubs were in the World Series a billy goat was not allowed into the stadium, so they connected the two, even though there is no real connection. Combined with causal reasoning, psychologists also use negative agency bias to explain the curse’s popularity. Negative agency bias is a phenomenon that occurs only when a team loses. When this happens fans are not willing to blame the loss on their team because many die-hard fans have what only can be described as an all consuming love for their favorite team. To them blaming poor performance on the players, coaches or managers would be the equivalent to treason, so they are willing to look anywhere else to place criticism. The most logical place for them to place their blame is a curse, so it is easy to understand why so many people are willing to blame the Cubs’ losing streak on a curse. Psychology not only explains why the curse has captured the American consciousness but also why it continues to remain relevant
In order to fully understand the Curse of the Billy Goat, the history of the Chicago Cubs …show more content…
Several psychologists have researched the science behind the public’s fascination with the curse and have come up with several explanations. First they offer causal reasoning as a cause of the curse’s popularity. Humans have a natural desire to understand why things happen, and causal reasoning is the result of this need. When things don’t make sense people can see patterns and connections that don’t actually exist. For many fans the Cubs’ failure to reach the World Series did not make any sense, so to rationalize what occurred they looked for a pattern. What they found was that the last time the Cubs were in the World Series a billy goat was not allowed into the stadium, so they connected the two, even though there is no real connection. Combined with causal reasoning, psychologists also use negative agency bias to explain the curse’s popularity. Negative agency bias is a phenomenon that occurs only when a team loses. When this happens fans are not willing to blame the loss on their team because many die-hard fans have what only can be described as an all consuming love for their favorite team. To them blaming poor performance on the players, coaches or managers would be the equivalent to treason, so they are willing to look anywhere else to place criticism. The most logical place for them to place their blame is a curse, so it is easy to understand why so many people are willing to blame the Cubs’ losing streak on a curse. Psychology not only explains why the curse has captured the American consciousness but also why it continues to remain relevant