Editing Sympathetic magic (section)

==Modern examples==
Though Frazer thought that sympathetic magic was a problem for undeveloped people, psychologist Paul Rozin and others have tested sympathetic magic using Ivy League college students. Regarding the principle of similarity, they found that the students were hesitant to eat fudge that had been molded to resemble dog feces. The principle of contagion was also evaluated by asking the students to drink some water that had been exposed to a sterilized cockroach, and again most students were hesitant. In addition, students were unenthusiastic when asked to don a T-shirt that had been worn by someone un-liked―even if the T-shirt had been washed. 
Rozin et al. found that not only past exposure resulted in sympathetic magic, but future exposure could as well. In an experiment in 1992, people did not want to put on a sweater that had been worn by someone with AIDS (past exposure). Many people also evaluated a Holiday Inn as less than ideal, if they knew that the same hotel was to be transformed into a facility for AIDS patients (future exposure).<ref name="Stuart2023">{{cite journal |last1=Vyse |first1=Stuart | authorlink = Stuart Vyse |title=Scientific Contagion Spoils the Magic of Religion |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=2023 |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=30–31}}</ref>

Conversely, items such as holy water that are thought to magically possess healing powers can be ruined via scientific contagion. Researchers asked participants their opinion regarding holy water that had been processed to remove minerals (a "scientific process"); which were then put back. The participants felt that the water would be fine for drinking, but that it would have lost its religiosity.<ref name=Stuart2023/>