The lunar effect is the belief that the moon’s phases affect human behavior, causing negative events such as homicides, suicides, and domestic violence. However, scientific studies have found no link between the lunar cycle and these consequences. The belief is perpetuated through anecdotes and media sensationalism, but studies have confirmed that it is non-existent.
The lunar effect, or Transylvania effect, is the belief that the phases of the moon have an effect on the behavior of humans. This effect is believed to cause an increase in homicides, police and firefighter calls, suicides, domestic violence, kidnappings, homicides, and even assaults in hockey players. Scientific studies have found no link between the lunar cycle and the multitude of consequences to which it is connected. Believers think that since the moon affects major bodies of water on earth and the human body is 75 percent water, it would also affect humans.
A multitude of negative events, including major disasters, epilepsy, and admissions to psychiatric hospitals, are believed to be the result of the lunar effect. The belief that werewolves transform during a full moon is also related to this ingrained belief. In the late 19th century, an Englishman escaped a murder charge on the grounds that the full moon drove him insane. Many films, myths and folklore draw a link between the moon and human behavior. For example, Babylonian folklore states that women are most fertile during the full moon.
People believe in the lunar effect due to the moon’s effect on the water. The Earth is two-thirds water, and humans are 75% water. The moon’s gravitational pull causes tides on earth, so believers in the lunar effect believe that the moon’s gravitational pull on the human body has some sort of effect. The astrological body does not change in size depending on how much it is seen, but a full moon is still believed to have more effect than a new moon. It has been noted that a mosquito sitting on a human’s arm exerts a greater gravitational pull on the person than the moon, full or not.
Belief in the lunar effect is generally perpetuated through anecdotes and media sensationalism. Many people who talk to nurses believe that full moons cause more hospitalizations on labor wards, because labor nurses often believe in the effect. Skeptics point out that this anecdotal evidence proves nothing, because no solid figures are involved. It’s also possible that nurses think nothing of busy days on a half or new moon, but a full moon gives them something to blame for a busy day. Newspapers can then report the anecdotal evidence and make many readers believers.
Studies have confirmed that the lunar effect is actually non-existent. Researchers have looked at the moon’s effects on a variety of human activities, but have found no statistically significant link between them. This includes homicide, homicide, kidnapping, domestic violence, birth rates, assault, alcoholism, and prison violence rates. Studies have concluded that it is natural for humans to assume a correlation between two events occurring in the same period. The full moon is conspicuous, so if a person witnesses strange behavior, it is incorrectly assumed that it is related to the bright orb in the sky.
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