The crisp air, crunching leaves, and delightful aroma of pumpkin spice are the unmistakable signs that the best season of the year has arrived: fall. It’s the perfect time to press play on your Gilmore Girls, dust off your sweaters, buy that pumpkin spice, and watch as the leaves turn from green to those gorgeous fall hues of red, orange, and yellow, all while waiting eagerly for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Well, there’s a reason that the mention of fall brings such feelings of comfort and nostalgia. According to a Psychology Today article, our fondness for this season is rooted in more than just pumpkin spice and everything nice. It lies in the innate human need for structure, mental cues we associate with the cold, and even the desire to feel less pressure on our appearances. First, the structure that fall brings. Summer is characterized by relaxation, exotic travel, and boundless days of summer heat. The fall, however, brings a welcome end to this, ushering in the mundane that most didn’t even realize they missed. Second, the mental cues that we associate with the cold. According to the article, the cold brings clarity of thought, lifting the humidity and heat that weighs us down in the summer. Finally, our appearances. While the summer is an opportunity to dawn bikinis, tank tops, and shorts, this comes for many with pressure to fit beauty standards that they can’t hide from. In the fall, the sweater weather allows people to wear oversized clothing, leading them to think less about their appearance and more about their comfort. So, as you can see, below the crunching leaves that blanket the world in fall is strong psychology that explains our need for pumpkin spice and everything nice.