You can almost hear the groans from disgruntled Scrooges every time someone starts posting a Christmas countdown. It’s pretty safe to say that we all anticipate the run up to the later Autumnal months. With baited breath, we keep an eye out for that first festive display that’s up in September or scour the shops looking for the seasonal section selling Christmas decorations that’s out by the end of August so we can take to social media to express our disgust.
But in actual fact. Science (and some good old fashioned surveys) shows that people who put up their Christmas decorations in advance are happier than those who wait until nearer December 25th.
Steve McKeown, who is the founder of MindFixers and also a psychoanalyst (so he knows what he’s talking about!) said that ‘Although there could be a number of symptomatic reasons why someone would want to obsessively put up decorations early, most commonly for nostalgic reasons either to relive the magic or to compensate for past neglect. People who put up Christmas decorations prematurely are happier, according to experts. In a world full of stress and anxiety people like to associate to things that make them happy and Christmas decorations evoke those strong feelings of the childhood. Decorations are simply an anchor or pathway to those old childhood magical emotions of excitement. So putting up those Christmas decorations early extend the excitement!’
So there you have it, if you want to put up Christmas decorations early, it just means that you are in touch with your nostalgic inner child, and this can definitely help you to feel happier as you relive some of the happier moments from your youth.
The comments from Mr McKeown are backed up with scientific evidence too. The Jorunal of Environmental Psychology has come up with a report that shows that decorations can make you believe that you are happier. The report was written by Carol Werner, Sonja Peterson-Lewis and Barbara Brown and it concluded that people people ‘may use holiday decorations on their home’s exterior to communicate friendliness and cohesiveness with neighbours.’ Not only do you make yourself feel happier, but you also put out a more homely image for yourself towards your neighbours, making you seem more approachable and friendly to those around you.
So if you’re one of those people who likes to get your Christmas Decorations up ahead of your friends or if you want to post about how excited you are for Christmas, the great news is that it’s totally ok because SCIENCE says so. And you can’t argue with science.
Still, don’t go putting your decorations up in August because that’s just weird.
