In the famous Christmas song, ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town’, children are told that Father Christmas ‘knows when you’ve been good or bad,’ and is encouraged to ‘be good for good’.
But scientists are rewriting the rulebook, because they say the expectation that Santa Claus doesn’t leave presents doesn’t make children behave better.
In their research, the team looked at the actions of more than 500 children over three Christmases to find out who was mean and who was good.
Although believing in Santa did not make children better, participating in family activities such as singing songs and decorating decorations.
Lead author Rohan Kapitany, a psychologist at Durham University, thinks parents should prioritize ‘costs’. Christmas traditions – which require a lot of effort – and their children to participate in the days to come.
“It seems that more expensive traditions have a greater influence on (children’s) behavior,” Professor Kapitany told MailOnline.
‘Putting on a Christmas jumper is one thing but it’s easy to do, but going for a walk in the dark and cold to listen to music in a strange new house while holding candles is another.
‘Unusual in everyday life, the influence is magnified.’
The hope that Santa doesn’t leave presents doesn’t make children feel better during the holidays (file photo)
Overall, the results are surprising, as singing music and going to church can be seen as boring for young people (file photo)
The researchers – from the universities of Oxford, Durham, Edinburgh and Leeds – wanted to see which elements of the festival, including the belief in Santa Claus, affect the behavior of children.
The team recruited 533 children between the ages of 4 and 9, who were followed up on three Christmases – 2019, 2021 and 2022.
Experts asked parents to report on their child’s behavior on two occasions – up to six weeks before Christmas and the week before Christmas.
Behavior was measured using six criteria – including ‘generosity’ (sharing with others and inviting others to play), ‘respect’ (respecting authority and rules) and ‘help’ (helping others with chores and household chores).
There was also ‘consolation’ (comforting those in trouble), ‘outbursts’ (being angry with others) and ‘selfishness’ (taking things that don’t belong to them, lying and provoking in anger).
Parents were also asked about their children’s belief in Santa and the number of festive activities, such as raising a tree, singing songs, listening to Christmas music, eating Christmas foods such as mince pies, going to Christmas church and watching. Christmas movies.
Overall, the researchers did not find a connection between believing in Santa and good behavior, although good behavior increased as December 25 approached – but only if families carried out ‘expensive’ rituals such as decorations and music.
Parents reported different good and bad behaviors from their children in the run-up to Christmas, including sharing, helping and giving up (file photo)
Many times, parents think that Christmas is very important, but that their child’s faith in Santa is more important. The magic is in the time of year, so to speak, not about a great spiritual person
“Although the results are small, they are well-regarded, and are made possible by participation in yuletide rituals,” the group says in their statement. learning to print.
Good traditions to encourage good behavior include decorating, singing Christmas carols and eating festive foods.
Compared to the story of Santa, these activities are better at promoting the joy of Christmas and making children behave.
They offer a paradoxical routine that produces moral values in a way that believing in Santa does not.
However, the group adds: ‘It should be noted that children’s behavior is not simple or consistent.
‘As virtue increases, so does vice.’
According to their beliefs, parents often think that the Christmas season is very important, but that their child’s faith in Santa is more important.
‘Magic is in the season, so to speak, and not about a great spiritual person,’ added Professor Kapitany.
Many parents use Santa’s threat not to leave any presents at Christmas as a way to get kids to be good instead of bad.
Overall, the results are surprising, because singing hymns and going to church services can seem boring to young people.
Also, for children Santa Claus is ‘like a god’ and children ‘are devoted’, according to researchers.
‘For many children, Santa is real, a useful, perhaps unrecognizable, representation of God,’ they conclude.
‘Although the story of a child’s belief in Santa Claus may seem trivial, the implications for our understanding of moral development are far-reaching.’
This research also has implications for parents to choose let them tell their children about the story of Santa.
Dr Joseph Millum, senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of St Andrews, thinks parents should not tell their children that Santa exists because it ‘breaks trust’, calling the cheerful gift-giver ‘a total lie’.
But the student calls the myth ‘false’, adding that ‘falsehood is wrong because it breaks trust’.
However, Tom Whyman, a philosophy lecturer at the University of Liverpool, said that ‘children need Santa’.
Meet St Nicholas: the original Santa Claus
St Nicholas was the Bishop of Myrna in what is now Turkey in the 4th century.
He was known for his secret giving of gifts, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left him with them. This practice is still celebrated on his country’s feast day, December 6.
The bishop became famous in the 600s in Europe as Father Christmas, who secretly gave gifts to young children.
Santa Claus came from St. Nicholas of Myra, who, according to Christian tradition, was a bishop in a small Roman town in the 4th century AD. This photo shows a 13th century icon of Saint Nicholas from the monastery of Saint Catherine in Sinai, Egypt.
Dutch youths who arrived in the US called Saint Nicholas ‘Sinterklaas’, who later became Santa Claus.
In modern versions, he is depicted as an old bearded man dressed in red and white.
It is a local legend that Coca-Cola created the legend of Santa Claus, just as it is rumored that Coca-Cola made Santa red.
Before Coca-Cola was invented in 1886, Santa appeared in many illustrations and books wearing a red coat.
