Santa Claus
Representation to children

Psychologists generally differentiate between telling fictional stories that feature Santa Claus and actively deceiving a child into believing that Santa Claus is real. Imaginative play, in which children know that Santa Claus is only a character in a story, but pretend that he is real, just like they pretend that superheroes or other fictional characters are real, is valuable. Actively deceiving a child into believing in Santa Claus's real-world existence, sometimes even to the extent of fabricating false evidence to convince them despite their growing natural doubts, does not result in imaginative play and can promote credulity in the face of strong evidence against Santa Claus's existence. Children will eventually know that their parents deceived them.

Babies and toddlers do not understand the concept of a fictional character, but most children become developmentally able to "believe in" Santa Claus around age three or four. The prevalence of belief in Santa Claus is high at age five, and declines precipitously when children are seven or eight years old. Although the age at disillusionment has been fairly stable for decades – in 1978, 85% of American five year olds believed that Santa was real, but only 25% of eight year olds still did – it may be getting slightly lower over time. Age-inappropriate belief in Santa is seen in some older children and teenagers who have autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Psychology professor Jacqueline Woolley helped conduct a study that found that children seemed competent in their use of logic, evidence, and comparative reasoning even though they might conclude that Santa Claus or other fanciful creatures were real. According to Woolley, the existence of Santa Claus is affirmed to children by "friends, books, TV and movies" and by "hard evidence" of "half-eaten cookies and empty milk glasses".

Typical objections to presenting Santa Claus as a literally real person, rather than a story, include:

Some have argued that Santa Claus prioritizes parents' short-term happiness in seeing children excited about Santa Claus, and their nostalgic willingness to prolong the age of magical thinking, over children. Philosopher David Kyle Johnson wrote, "It's a lie, it degrades your parental trustworthiness, it encourages credulity, it does not encourage imagination, and it's equivalent to bribing your kids for good behavior."

Others see little harm in the belief in Santa Claus. Psychologist Tamar Murachver said that because it is a cultural, not parental, lie, it does not usually undermine parental trust. Psychology professor Jacqueline Woolley posited that it is perhaps "kinship with the adult world" that causes children not to be angry that they were lied to for so long. In one study, it was found that children did not trust their parents less and adults did not recall an increase in lack of trust. Austin Cline argued the problem is not with length, but with a complicated series of very large lies. Most children do not remain angry or embarrassed about the deception for very long. They are most likely to have a positive feeling about it if they are able to figure it out logically (e.g., by realizing the impossibility of one person visiting every home in a single night) and gradually. According to psychologist John Condry, "The most common response to finding out the truth was that they felt older and more mature. They now knew something that the younger kids did not". In other studies, a small fraction of children felt betrayed by their parents, but disappointment was a more common response. Some children have reacted strongly, including rejecting the family's religious beliefs on the grounds that if the parents lied about the existence of Santa Claus, then they might lie about the existence of God as well. The New Zealand Skeptics also see no harm in parents telling their children that Santa is real. Spokesperson Vicki Hyde said, "It would be a hard-hearted parent indeed who frowned upon the innocent joys of our children's cultural heritage. We save our bah humbugs for the things that exploit the vulnerable."
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