The Curse of the Standing Ovation

I hate standing up and applauding for a concert just because everyone else is doing it. But I do.

So why do so many people stand up and clap when they've heard a sub-par performance?

Sticks and Drones examines the practice and I'll list a few of the reasons here:

* They loved the performance!
* They love the conductor (mostly family)
* They are proud and want to support the orchestra by standing for them and with them
* They are standing for the composer (alive or dead)
* A soloist or section within the orchestra excited them so when they were recognized, they stood with them
* They don’t know why, it just moved them
* Even if it wasn’t the greatest performance they wanted to recognize the achievement

Look here for the complete discussion.