Metaphysical conundrum of the day: Should parents lie about Santa?
. . . most psychologists believe that lying to the kids about Santa Claus is harmless, and may even have benefits.
For instance, Santa can serve as an example of selflessness and create family traditions, said Jared Durtschi, a professor of marriage and family therapy at Kansas State University.
"If it's about giving and love and service, I think it's a healthy, wonderful thing that can help them for the rest of their life," Durtschi said.
It's easy to get young children to believe in Santa because they already use magical thinking, said Karl Rosengren, a cognitive psychologist at Northwestern University. When kids are between 3 and 6 or 7 years old, they use magical thinking whenever their expectations about the world's workings are violated, he said.
That makes children more easily convinced of Santa's existence, but the belief has to be actively supported by parents and culture nurturing that belief.
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Once kids are old enough to use logic and reason (usually around 7 or 8), as opposed to magical thinking, they will start to question inconsistencies in the Santa storyline.
On my more cynical days I've argued that the Santa storyline is valuable because it teaches kids not to trust much of what they hear, even from authority figures, and on my sarcastic ones I've been known to mutter something about Santa being alive and well and living in Washington. I confess that this argument is one I've never considered, but it makes sense. Dealing with the loss of Santa belief without being demoralized is the first test of whether we can leave magical thinking behind and approach the workld with rational observations and deductions.
Alas, many people never escape from their magical thinking. Just listen in on any debate about public policy.
