🍀 How Your Belief in Luck Shapes Your Happiness

New research reveals a crucial psychological difference between feeling lucky and believing in luck

Some of us believe in luck more than others do. The concept of “luck” isn’t entirely well-defined, and beliefs about it range from highly mystical to relatively logical. Many of us simply use the word “luck” to describe a series of events going particularly well thanks to randomness, while others perceive an invisible hand that nudges people toward good vs bad outcomes based on karma or other mysterious influences.

It turns out that the way we think about luck may actually shape our mental well-being in unexpected ways.

A new study digs deep into this idea. It finds a fascinating difference between believing yourself to be personally lucky vs believing that life outcomes are generally determined by luck. Each of these types of belief has a unique association with our sense of emotional well-being.

🎲 The strange psychology of luck and well-being

In a new study published in 2025, researchers recruited 441 adults in Japan to take part in an interactive online experiment. Each participant played two rounds of a memory-based card game called Concentration (some of you may know it as Pairs), competing against a computer agent with a simulated memory. The agent’s memory capacity could vary across the game to make it more or less challenging.

Each time participants successfully matched a pair of cards, they were asked why they thought they succeeded: was it due to luck or ability?

Participants also completed standardized psychological surveys, including:

• Belief in Luck and Luckiness Scale (BILLS) – to measure two distinct beliefs:

  • Belief in Luck (a general belief that outcomes in life are governed by luck)

  • Personal Luckiness (the belief that one personally tends to be lucky)

• Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) – a self-report assessment of cognitive well-being

• Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) – a self-report assessment of affective well-being

The researchers also controlled for a range of factors such as age, gender, income, education, social relationships, and health status.

So how did people’s luck beliefs relate to their well-being indicators? There were three key findings that stood out:

1. Belief in luck vs. personal luckiness

   • Believing that life is governed by luck (Belief in Luck) was linked to lower life satisfaction. In contrast, feeling personally lucky (Personal Luckiness) was associated with higher life satisfaction, more positive emotions, and fewer negative emotions.

2. Causal attribution styles

   • Both a stronger Belief in Luck and a stronger sense of Personal Luckiness were linked to greater attributions of luck when it came to success in the card game. However, Personal Luckiness was also linked to a greater likelihood of crediting personal ability in explaining success. This dual attribution for personal luckiness suggests a more balanced mindset.

3. Causal attribution and well-being

   • Those who attributed success to their skills tended to report greater life satisfaction, but so did those who attributed their success to luck. The authors suggest that this may be because attributing success to luck comes with a deep sense of gratitude for an unexpected gift.

   • People who felt they won thanks to their personal ability could feel proud and confident, while those who felt they won thanks to luck could feel appreciative and grateful.

These results hint at an important but under-appreciated psychological pattern that may operate in our minds: feeling lucky helps us see both our personal strengths and life’s serendipities, whereas believing in luck as a force that controls everything might undercut our sense of control and introduce an obstacle to our happiness.

⭐️ Takeaway tips

#1. Cultivate a feeling of optimism—without surrendering control

• A sense of personal luckiness was linked to greater happiness and fewer negative emotions. Reflect on fortunate moments in your life and recognize how your own actions often helped create them. This mindset may help you reinforce your optimism and resilience.

#2. Appreciate the roles of both skill and chance in your success

• People who felt lucky tended to give credit to both their abilities and external fortune during moments of success. This balanced view can reduce self-blame when things go wrong, while strengthening your sense of competence and self-confidence when things go well.

#3. Avoid believing life is governed solely by luck

• Seeing life as driven primarily by luck was tied to lower life satisfaction. This belief may dampen your sense of autonomy and control. Instead, try to focus on what you can do to prepare for opportunities—so when luck shows up, you're ready to embrace it.

“We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Sahara.”

~ Richard Dawkins

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