Wait, it's Friday the 13th? Why we fear this date so much

Some hotels don't have room number 13, most skyscrapers in New York City don't have a 13th floor, there's no row 13 on flights, and Friday the 13th isn't very popular as a wedding date either.

When you list it like that, it sounds pretty stupid - but the fear of Friday the 13th is common and real - so where does it come from?

In all likelihood, this day will be a day like any other. In fact, it might be even less eventful than your average weekday. German insurer Gothaer Versicherung says they received fewest claims on Fridays apart from Sundays - including on a recent Friday the 13th in October.

So why do we keep insisting it's an unlucky date?

The answer is, it's a long story.

In the Christianised Western world, the fear of the number 13 is associated with the Last Supper of Jesus and the 12 Apostles - 13 people at the table and one of them was betrayed on a Friday!

Later on, the number 13 became to be generally regarded as unlucky outside of this context.

In many European countries, Friday was "hangman's day," explains US psychologist Stuart Vyse in an interview with the American Psychological Association (APA).

"It was a day that people got hung in much of Europe. And so it comes around every once in a while, once or twice a year, there's a Friday the 13th and so people note it," he says.

According to Vyse, who has written several books on superstition, those who hold on to superstitions, including a fear of Friday the 13th, are trying to gain some sense of control and reduce uncertainty.

In other words, if something bad happens on Friday the 13th, you have expected it. If people have an accident on Wednesday the 11th, that's considered bad luck.

"A superstition is a belief or practice that is inconsistent with our understanding of science," Vyse says.

"I limit it to things that are in some sense pragmatic, either trying to bring on good luck or avoid bad luck."

The psychologist distinguishes between two types of superstition: the first are taught or culturally shared beliefs, including a fear of black cats, walking under ladders and the number 13.

Personal superstitions, on the other hand, are acquired individually and usually through trial and error, says Vyse.

Those are particularly prevalent among athletes, who like to wear a lucky charm to matches or stick to their little routines come what may, convinced that it will change the outcome of a match if they don't.

These things give us a sense of security in situations where we don't have full control, but the result is of great importance to us. The way we form personal superstitions is often quite random, Vyse says.

"If you wear a new tie and you go and do a really great performance at a talk or a presentation, you might just wear that tie each time you have to do a presentation, because it feels like it has some special quality," he explains.

"And that's all it takes for many people. You probably have to be open to the idea of a superstition in general before you would do that. But often they are those random associations."

"I don't want to burst any bubbles here, but there is no magic that would make a tie help you in a practical sense, but it probably acquires some psychological value where you just feel better wearing it in the moment," the expert says.

And the number 13 can do that too. For US superstar Taylor Swift, it's her lucky number.

"I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first No. 1 song had a 13-second intro," Swift said in an interview back in 2009.

"Basically, whenever a 13 comes up in my life, it’s a good thing."

And if anyone has had a lot of good things happening to her, it's Taylor Swift.

And we also don't have a reason to worry today. Also a good thing.