Much research has shown that we as adults are pre-programmed, either during childhood development years, or through our own development of habits, to do things in certain set ways. This programming determines how we interact with our spouse, how much income we attract, what our attitude is toward our friends, etc., etc. The "files" or "blueprints" which regulate our behavior to match these norms reside in our subconscious minds, which function largely independent of our conscious minds. The subconscious mind directs the things  we do without conscious thought or intent. 

For example, when you drive somewhere you haven't previously visited, you think consciously about where you're going, when to turn, etc. - that's done with your conscious mind. The tenth time you go there, you follow the route subconsciously, while your conscious mind is thinking about what you'll have for dinner or what you should have said in this morning's argument with your teenage son. The subconscious mind is now directing your driving, independent of what your conscious mind is doing.

We may say, and we may believe, that we want to change these attitudes and behaviors, and that can happen. However it happens only as the result of convincing our subconscious minds that we genuinely seek change, and that we're willing to undertake the necessary, and often very difficult, actions to develop new habits and establish new norms. Pretty much always it requires giving up something we feel "entitled" to, and is therefore very difficult to let go of.