Santa’s little doubters: study pinpoints average age when children stop believing

From empty glasses of sherry on the mantelpiece to sooty footprints leading to the Christmas tree, evidence of Santa’s existence is clearly irrefutable.

- Linda Geddes

 

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 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 phenomenon when she became. a parent and "got immersed in the world of promoting Santa Claus".