ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Detraditionalization

Detraditionalization is a big word that means people are not following old traditions and customs like they used to.

Imagine you had a favorite toy that you played with all the time. You loved it so much that you never let it go anywhere, and you always played with it the same way. But as you grow up and you are introduced to new toys, you might start to play with them differently or even stop playing with your old toy altogether.

In the same way, people used to follow old traditions and customs without question, but now they are starting to question them and decide for themselves if they want to keep following them or not. For example, people used to always get married and have children, but now some people are choosing not to do that and instead have a different kind of family.

This change in behavior is called detraditionalization because people are moving away from traditional ways of doing things and creating new norms and values that fit their lives better.