There is a widespread belief that Santa Claus has an impact on children’s behavior. However, other festive embellishments such as Christmas decorations, music and food can play a much more important role.
After all, the Santa Claus is not convincing so do the children.
The conclusion is from a study at the end of November in OSF Preprintswhich reveals that, for example, making the Christmas tree and singing are activities that make children happier and more motivated.
The initial question of this study was: “Does belief in Santa Claus really influence children’s behavior?”
To try to answer, researchers from the University of Durham, in the United Kingdom, carried out a preliminary study during Christmas 2019, 2021 and 2022.
As described by , the study focused on 400 families in the UK with children aged between 4 and 9. Parents were interviewed a few weeks before Christmas and the week before the holiday.
According to the parents’ reports, there were no significant changes in the children’s general behavior between the two moments – not even with the “Santa Claus argument”.
The team found that children exposed to a greater number of Christmas rituals were more likely to adopt prosocial behaviors. These rituals include placing decorationswear unusual clothes like sweatshirts from Natal, go to events Christmas and eat food festive. But nothing directly related to Santa Claus.
Although many parents say they use Christmas as a tool to encourage pro-social behavior, with promises of gifts for good girls and boys, the expert Jane Risenfrom the University of Chicago, confirmed to New Scientist that “there is no evidence that children behave better when Christmas time approaches”.
In general, the ritual of Santa Claus can reinforce beliefs in the supernaturalsince the amount of effort involved gives credibility to the belief.
“From a child’s perspective, Is it rational to believe in Santa Claus?because adults engage in a vast conspiracy to convince them that it is true”, explained to New Scientist, the leader of the research, Captain Rohan.
