Why it’s a norm to say ‘bless you’ after a
sneeze
Attributing Divine Blessing May Serve Various Functions When Ordinary Explanations Are Lacking
Saying “bless you” or “God bless you” after someone sneezes seems to be a reflex response. Why do we feel compelled to say it to anyone who sneezes, even if the sneezer is a stranger or the sneeze is heard from afar? “Saying ‘God bless you’ following a sneeze is a common refrain, so common and taught from childhood that many people don’t even think of it as a blessing, but rather as an utterance without specific meaning other than a response to a sneeze that is polite in some way,” said Gail Saltz, an associate professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. “If it is repeated enough times, especially with positive reinforcement — the sneezer says ‘thank you’ — it becomes increasingly reflexive,” Saltz added. “Today, people aren’t quite sure why they are saying it, but they are afraid that if they don’t say it, people will think that they are rude or don’t care about the person who sneezed.” How and where did this social behaviour originate? Historically, sneezes were thought to be an omen or warning from the gods, according to W David Myers, a professor of history at Fordham University. “For European Christians, when the first plague that weakened the now Christian Roman Empire around 590, Pope Gregory the Great believed that a sneeze was an early warning sign of plague, so he commanded Christians to respond to a sneeze with a blessing,” he said. In ancient times, people believed that sneezing would allow evil spirits to enter your body, and saying “God bless you” kept out those evil spirits. According to Omar Sultan Haque, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, although the onset of sneezes appears to be random, attributing divine blessing may function to explain things when ordinary explanations are lacking. “Because of the deep connection in the human psyche between religion, cleanliness and the emotion of disgust, invoking God after sneezing is more likely, as compared to invoking God after other anomalous events like a random piece of debris hitting someone on the shoulder,” he said. “Saying simply ‘bless you’ also reduces religious implications or revelations about your own beliefs,” said Frank Farley, a psychology professor at Temple University. Farley offers a variety of motives for why so many of us feel compelled to offer a blessing after someone sneezes
Conditioned response. People often say “thank you” when we say “God bless you” when they sneeze. The thank you serves as a reward and reinforcement. It’s catching. We may imitate others who offer a blessing; we model their behaviour. This might start at a young age when we see and hear adults around us doing this. Micro-affections. Saying “bless you” may engender a brief and passing feel-good connection to the person sneezing, a phenomenon that Farley calls “micro-affections”. Conformity. Many of us confor m to the nor m. Saying “bless you” in response to a sneeze is part of the civility that underlies many of our social mores. NYT NEWS SERVICE
Source: Times of India, 18/09/2019
Attributing Divine Blessing May Serve Various Functions When Ordinary Explanations Are Lacking
Saying “bless you” or “God bless you” after someone sneezes seems to be a reflex response. Why do we feel compelled to say it to anyone who sneezes, even if the sneezer is a stranger or the sneeze is heard from afar? “Saying ‘God bless you’ following a sneeze is a common refrain, so common and taught from childhood that many people don’t even think of it as a blessing, but rather as an utterance without specific meaning other than a response to a sneeze that is polite in some way,” said Gail Saltz, an associate professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. “If it is repeated enough times, especially with positive reinforcement — the sneezer says ‘thank you’ — it becomes increasingly reflexive,” Saltz added. “Today, people aren’t quite sure why they are saying it, but they are afraid that if they don’t say it, people will think that they are rude or don’t care about the person who sneezed.” How and where did this social behaviour originate? Historically, sneezes were thought to be an omen or warning from the gods, according to W David Myers, a professor of history at Fordham University. “For European Christians, when the first plague that weakened the now Christian Roman Empire around 590, Pope Gregory the Great believed that a sneeze was an early warning sign of plague, so he commanded Christians to respond to a sneeze with a blessing,” he said. In ancient times, people believed that sneezing would allow evil spirits to enter your body, and saying “God bless you” kept out those evil spirits. According to Omar Sultan Haque, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, although the onset of sneezes appears to be random, attributing divine blessing may function to explain things when ordinary explanations are lacking. “Because of the deep connection in the human psyche between religion, cleanliness and the emotion of disgust, invoking God after sneezing is more likely, as compared to invoking God after other anomalous events like a random piece of debris hitting someone on the shoulder,” he said. “Saying simply ‘bless you’ also reduces religious implications or revelations about your own beliefs,” said Frank Farley, a psychology professor at Temple University. Farley offers a variety of motives for why so many of us feel compelled to offer a blessing after someone sneezes
Conditioned response. People often say “thank you” when we say “God bless you” when they sneeze. The thank you serves as a reward and reinforcement. It’s catching. We may imitate others who offer a blessing; we model their behaviour. This might start at a young age when we see and hear adults around us doing this. Micro-affections. Saying “bless you” may engender a brief and passing feel-good connection to the person sneezing, a phenomenon that Farley calls “micro-affections”. Conformity. Many of us confor m to the nor m. Saying “bless you” in response to a sneeze is part of the civility that underlies many of our social mores. NYT NEWS SERVICE
Source: Times of India, 18/09/2019
