Can research help you have a happier Christmas?

Are you doing a Kris Kringle this year or taking a leave pass on presents? Maybe you are sorting through all that dusty camping gear and wondering where you put the tent poles. Whatever the case, Christmas can be a tricky time for many people: true, there’s joy, celebration, and feasting, as well as high expectations, poor golf games, high emotions, grief for those no longer with us, and regret for relationships lost. As we put up our advent calendars and prepare for end-of-year parties, unseen uncles, and Christmas carols, I wondered if there was any research on happiness in the festive season that could aid our preparations.

Researchers must be too busy buying presents at Christmas because they haven’t written much about how people experience the festive season. 20 years ago in the Journal of Happiness Studies, Researchers Kasser and Sheldon (2002) asked 117 people what made them happy and stressed at Christmas. They reported the following:

• People are happier when they spend quality time with family and friends
• People are happier when they engage in religious activities and experiences
• People had happier holidays when they consumed less and appreciated nature more
• People were less happy when Christmas focused on spending money and receiving gifts.
• “Wrapping presents generally yields fewer inherent rewards than spending time playing games or conversing with family” (p. 325)
• Older men were the happiest participants during the Christmas period.

Kasser and Sheldon’s study suggests that the things that make people happy at Christmas are the same things that make people happy more generally. Positive quality relationships and meaningful spiritual experiences are vital to human wellbeing.

Even though most people intuit that family, spiritual experience and meaning are core to human happiness, it is challenging to remain focused on these values at Christmas time when so many different cultural forces (peers, family, friends, business) promote materialism and busyness as the values of the season. Kasser and Sheldon concluded: “The materialistic aspects of modern Christmas celebrations may undermine well-being, while family and spiritual activities may help people to feel more satisfied”(p. 313).

Research by Páez et al (2012) also showed that family rituals at Christmas time enhanced happiness. Páez et al studied the experiences of 141 psychology students. The research team argued that Christmas and New Year were important rituals that strengthened history, connection, family and friendships. Students who participated more in Christmas and New Year’s rituals “showed higher levels of wellbeing by comparison with a similar group. Specifically, they showed greater life satisfaction, lower loneliness, lower negative affect, and better affect balance, whereas those who participated less in these rituals experienced less positive affect in comparison to a similar sample of students” (p. 384).

Research is always limited by its time, place, and the participants studied. It would be useful to have some Australian research on people's wellbeing during Christmas. However, I feel that both studies suggest relevant insights that can enhance our festive season experience. Based on these studies, I have constructed five reflective questions that might help you to have a happier Christmas:

1. Who will you enjoy spending quality time with over Christmas? When are you are you catching up with them?
2. What religious or spiritual experiences will you find personally engaging and meaningful? When are you engaging in those?
3. What kinds of conversations do you need to have to minimise unnecessary consumption or the busyness that leads to useless stress? Who do you need to talk to first?
4. What are some known negative triggers for you, and how might you minimise and manage them? Who can support you with this approach?
5. How might you spend more time in and with nature over Christmas? Where are your special spaces and places to visit?

Wishing you a restful break with family, friends, nature, and meaning.?Let me know some of your practices that enhance Christmas in the comments.

References

Kasser, T., & Sheldon, K. M. (2002). What makes for a merry Christmas??Journal of Happiness Studies,?3(4), 313-329.

Mcdrindle.com.au (2023). The-12-stats-of-christmas. https://mccrindle.com.au/article/blog/the-12-stats-of-christmas-2/

Páez, D., Bilbao, M. á., Bobowik, M., Campos, M., & Basabe, N. (2011). Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The impact of Christmas rituals on subjective well-being and family's emotional climate. International Journal of Social Psychology, 26(3), 373-386. https://doi.org/10.1174/021347411797361347

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