Psychologists Pinpoint Average Age Children Become Santa Sceptics
upstart writes:
[...] Research found little ones typically begin to distinguish fantasy from reality during preschool years
'I cried for hours': the moments people realised truth about Father Christmas
From empty glasses of sherry on the mantelpiece to sooty footprints leading to the bedroom door, evidence of Santa's existence is clearly irrefutable. Yet most children will begin to question it at some point - and many parents anticipate this moment with dread. Now psychologists have identified the average age when Santa scepticism creeps in, and which children are at greatest risk of harbouring negative feelings when it does.
While most adults have fallen for the myth that Santa doesn't exist, many children still believe - even if the idea of a single individual visiting the homes of billions of children in a single night is at odds with their wider reasoning skills.
Dr Candice Mills, a psychologist at the University of Texas in Dallas, US, and a Santa sceptic, said: "Children typically begin to distinguish fantasy from reality during the preschool years, but their belief in the existence of a singular magical Santa Claus often continues into middle childhood."
Mills became interested in this issue when she became a parent and "got immersed in the world of promoting Santa Claus" herself. "I felt a bit of tension about it, because on one hand we often encourage our children to be scientific thinkers and to not deceive others, yet with the Santa story, sometimes there's some stretching of the truth that goes along with it.
"I was worried about coming across to my children as lying, because I knew I had felt upset about being lied to about [Santa]."
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