Christmas is the time of year when the normal rules of life are abandoned. Even though this Christmas will be different, the same spirit presides. I thought it was interesting this year that everyone got their decorations up earlier than usual. We seem to have an amplified need for Xmas. I am sure this will be followed through by making the celebrations we do have more exuberant than usual. This has not gone unnoticed by other commentators. The Huffington Post explore this phenomena in more detail here. Having read this, it made me think of other studies on what the festive period brings us psychologically. So I thought I would share some other interesting studies and reviews of psychology at Xmas.
Interesting there has been a number of studies on how Xmas affects us. For example, at the Conversation they are predicting that Xmas will make us happier this year-as long as we do not experience the dread of the re-gifting. To read their review click here.
Psyblog offers a summary of twelve interesting studies on gift giving and what really makes a happy at Xmas. To read the 12 lessons, click here.
Xmas does seem to change the way your brain operates. Beginning as a joke, researchers went in pursuit of the Xmas neural network in our brains and found some interesting results. To read about the neuroscience of Xmas, on Psychology Today, click here.