butchersapron
Bring back hanging
There's a clear social function of that sort of thing, one entwined with the ongoing working of society - there isn't with these sort of beliefs though.I'd see it as more akin to the state of 'unknowing' knowing of hypnosis, when a person can insist in English that they can't speak English, or they can be made to not see an object in front of them yet still walk around it to avoid kicking it.
It's a similar state to that involved in religious rites such as giving food to the dead then eating it yourself and reporting that the dead were pleased with their meal. It is somewhere between make-believe and belief - it is voluntary wish-fulfillment but not entirely insincere.