Answer:
Superstitions are the result of observance of cause and effect. People sometimes ascribe more importance to events than they should, but once an idea is implanted the human mind often then looks for "proof".
For example:
- Ill luck to walk under a ladder - if someone is working above something could fall on you.
- a baseball player who won't play without his "lucky" shirt. He remembers the wins he experienced while wearing it, and attributes a loss to not having it. Hence he believes he can't win without it and his mind makes that a fact.
Looking into the origin of a specific superstition will often point out the original cause and the effect it had.