Thanksgiving is over, which only means one thing, it is officially Christmas season! Yay! Everyone can probally attest to the fact that Christmas time is just a whole ‘nother vibe. The season is changed to winter, the year is ending, there are Christmas decorations EVERYWHERE, and besides the occasional scrouge, everyone is in a cheery mood. Some people love Christmas because well, they get gifts. While others love the chance to spend time with family and friends. There are also those who actually like Christmas for the religous, true meaning. Whatever the reason is, Christmas is just a treasured time. It’s a time where people are nice and overall happy, which is something that’s great to see! But, why does a single day bring this much change? Why has everyone turned into completly different people?  Why is everyone so cheerful?

Researchers and psychologists have looked into these questions, and they are beginning to believe that Holiday cheer is in fact, real. An experiement was conducted in 2015 by researcher Brad Haddock, who tested two groups of people. One group was of holiday celebrators, and the other was of those who do not celebrate the holidays. Both groups were shown pictures with holiday themes, as their braines were scanned. Those who do celebrate the holidays has a front section of their brain light up, signaling that there is a “holiday spirit network” in the brain. Haddock told Insider that, “the study does fit with the idea that thinking about something can elicit an associated response, because it was a response to images of Christmas, not really Christmas, that we used as a stimulus.” So, even just seeing a picture of the beloved holidays can make someone happy. Later studies showed that even listening to holiday music gave similar results.

Sophmore, Kylie Graf, says that Christmas lights and music get her in the Christmas spirit. She says she loves Christmas “because the whole vibe is happy!” Sophmore Charlotte Schraft has similar views, stating, “Christmas music definitly gets me in the Christmas spirit! Everyone seems to be in a happier mood and I love Christmas lights and candy canes!”

Psychologist Steve McKoewn also has been looking into the topic, stating, “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” So, people like to use Christmas to go back to a time with less stress, and more happiness, which is their childhood. This makes sense as Christmas is one of the most beloved times of the year for children, usually because of the gift getting factor.

So, the holidays make a lot of people happy for a lot of different reasons. But, whatever the reason is, wishing everyone some very happy holidays!