--- title: Here’s What Research Says Leads to a Merry Christmas description: At the end, it's not about the gifts under the tree canonical: https://time.com/3641055/merry-christmas-research/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-25T05:01:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:06:02.663Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Here’s What Research Says Leads to a Merry Christmas og:description: At the end, it's not about the gifts under the tree og:url: https://time.com/3641055/merry-christmas-research/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt649083b6517f29b3/69876ffbf887dc6a68e8925e/christmas-tree-family-meal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5100 og:image:height: 2869 og:image:alt: christmas-tree-family-meal og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here’s What Research Says Leads to a Merry Christmas twitter:description: At the end, it's not about the gifts under the tree twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt649083b6517f29b3/69876ffbf887dc6a68e8925e/christmas-tree-family-meal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here’s What Research Says Leads to a Merry Christmas > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Dec 25, 2014 5:01 AM UTC  Family enjoying Christmas dinner Family enjoying Christmas dinner Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Dec 25, 2014 5:01 AM UTC Some people love the holidays, others think they’re awful. What’s the deal? People are happier during the Christmas season, [even if they do feel more stress](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/12/what-does-science-tell-us-is-the-secret-to-a/): --- > “” --- And maybe as a result of that stress, people [do have more heart attacks on Christmas](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/12/do-more-people-have-heart-attacks-go-crazy-an/). But the holidays do not drive them crazy. Studies show [no increase in psychiatric admissions](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/12/do-more-people-have-heart-attacks-go-crazy-an/). And it’s a myth that more people commit suicide on Christmas. (Um, actually, [they wait until after Christmas](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/12/do-more-people-have-heart-attacks-go-crazy-an/).) So what does science say [adds up to a Merry Christmas](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/12/what-does-science-tell-us-is-the-secret-to-a/)? **Make sure to spend time with family, go to church, and don’t focus on spending money or getting gifts. Being environmentally conscious can help and, if possible, be old and male:** --- > “” --- **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/12/science-merry-christmas/)**_. Join over 145,000 readers and get a free weekly email update_** [**_here_**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**_._** Related posts: * [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) * [What 10 things should you do every day to improve your life?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/what-10-things-should-you-do-every-day-to-imp/) * [How To Make Your Life Better By Sending Five Simple Emails](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/07/make-your-life-better/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3641055/merry-christmas-research/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3641055/merry-christmas-research/"},"headline":"Here’s What Research Says Leads to a Merry Christmas","datePublished":"2014-12-25T05:01:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:06:02.663Z","description":"At the end, it's not about the gifts under the tree","url":"https://time.com/3641055/merry-christmas-research/","keywords":["Psychology","christmas","Holidays"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt649083b6517f29b3/69876ffbf887dc6a68e8925e/christmas-tree-family-meal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt649083b6517f29b3/69876ffbf887dc6a68e8925e/christmas-tree-family-meal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"christmas-tree-family-meal","caption":"christmas-tree-family-meal","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3641055/merry-christmas-research/","name":"Here’s What Research Says Leads to a Merry Christmas"}}]}] ```