2004'4, p.122
Saenko Yu. V.
Superstitions of modern students
(RESUME)

The paper describes a study of students' superstitions and their motivation conducted by questionnaire. Ritual actions are performed by the subject to protect himself from negative influence of mysterious forces. The carrier of superstitions attributes cause and consequence links to unconnected phenomena. The most popular among students are superstitions connected with examinations, the dominant motive for ritual actions is that of safety. Ritual activity performs regulatory, cognitive and affective-protective functions, of which the last is the leading function.