Good Question: Why Do We Stick To Traditions?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Whether it's baking cookies, playing board games, going to church or opening just one gift on Christmas Eve, many of us have our beloved Christmas traditions. Often times they are the same traditions we celebrated growing up.
"We do stockings in the morning, and it reminds us [of] when we were younger, and it's something we'll pass onto our family too," said Scott Haag of Minneapolis.
So, why do we stick to traditions? Good Question.
"There's something comfortable about tradition," said University of St. Thomas social psychologist John Tauer. "Anything that provides us comfort and security--there's an appealing part of that."
Tauer said humans have an innate need for survival which underlies most of the decisions we make each day.
We rely on rituals, schedules and routines because they physiologically allow our bodies to relax. Traditions mean we have fewer things to plan because they're already built in.
"This actually relieves stress because we don't have to think about something new and creative every year," Tauer said. "We just go back to old reliable."
There's also a nostalgia component to tradition that conjures up positive memories in a Pavlovian kind of way.
When new families have to choose traditions from either side, that can cause stress. Some cope by creating new traditions.
"Things that stick with us are things that are the most emotional and positive," said Tauer. "To the extent that it helps everyone in the room and has a high point emotionally, those are the things where people say, 'Yes, let's go back to that place because we like how it makes us feel.'"