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Believing in Santa doesn't make kids nicer at Christmas, study says

MailOnline
Summary
Nutrition label

81% Informative

Researchers from Oxford , Durham , Edinburgh and Leeds wanted to see which festive factors, including the belief in Santa Claus , influenced the moral behaviour of children.

They recruited 533 children between the age of four and nine years , who were tracked over three Christmases 2019 , 2021 and 2022 .

Overall, the researchers found no link between believing in Santa and good behaviour.

Good behaviour did increase as December 25 approached but only if families engaged in 'costly' rituals such as decorations and carols.

For children Santa Claus is 'akin to a god' and children 'are his devotees', say the researchers.

VR Score

77

Informative language

73

Neutral language

66

Article tone

semi-formal

Language

English

Language complexity

60

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

medium-lived

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no affiliate links