What is the psychology of people who are unwilling to throw away old things

People who are unwilling to throw away old things are usually related to emotional dependence, safety needs, or cognitive habits, and may be influenced by factors such as hoarding tendencies, nostalgia, decision-making difficulties, resource anxiety, or perfectionism.

1. Hoarding tendency

This group of people assigns excessive emotional value to items, believing that discarding them is equivalent to losing memory or opportunities. Mild hoarding behavior manifests as the retention of commemorative items, and in severe cases may develop into pathological hoarding disorders, accompanied by spatial encroachment and decision-making paralysis. Typical manifestations include retaining damaged items, repeatedly purchasing similar items, and deep psychological compensation for a sense of loss of control.

2. Nostalgia

maintains a connection with the past through objects, and old objects become emotional carriers. Psychology is called 'embodied cognition', which refers to physical existence triggering memory recall. Commonly seen during the transition period or after major changes in life, such as retaining childhood toys or ex gifts, the essence is to gain a sense of continuity and identity through objects, and alleviate the pressure of adapting to reality.

3. Decision making difficulties

Choosing fear leads to avoidance and abandonment behavior. Individuals with active prefrontal cortex function are prone to falling into a hypothetical loop of 'just in case of need', consuming a significant amount of cognitive resources to assess the potential value of items. Neurological studies have shown that this group of people have more pronounced amygdala activation when processing item classification, reflecting physiological rejection of uncertainty.

4. Resource anxiety

Growing up in an environment of material scarcity can lead to the formation of a "resource scarcity mindset", equating material reserves with safety boundaries. The "loss aversion effect" in behavioral economics is amplified, and even idle items are endowed with virtual use value. The common manifestation is excessive retention of low value items such as packaging boxes and disposable items.

5. Perfectionism

pursues the "complete correctness" of item disposal, leading to procrastination and disposal. These groups of people often establish complex classification criteria, such as waiting for "appropriate recycling methods" or "perfect donation opportunities". Deep down is the responsibility pressure of avoiding the consequences of decision-making and maintaining a psychological comfort zone through procrastination.

To improve such behavior, progressive desensitization training can be attempted, starting with clearing one low emotional value item per week to establish a cognitive separation between items and memory. The exposure response prevention technique in cognitive-behavioral therapy has a significant effect on hoarding behavior that seriously affects daily life. A "temporary storage area" mechanism can be established in daily life, with a three-month observation period before making disposal decisions, which can alleviate anxiety and avoid impulsive abandonment. It is important to understand that objects are only triggers of memory rather than memory itself, and to transform emotional connections through methods such as digitizing photos.