A Canadian study from the University of British Columbia reveals that being in the presence of a Christmas tree can negatively affect the mood of people who do not celebrate Christmas or profess a religion other than Christianity.
To reach this conclusion, psychologist Micahel Schmitt and his colleagues asked a series of subjects to fill out questionnaires about themselves while sitting in an "aseptic" room or in a room with a small Christmas tree as decoration. The volunteers who did not celebrate Christmas or who were not Christian showed more negative moods, low self-esteem, insecurity and a feeling of exclusion in the presence of the Christmas tree . In contrast, people celebrating Christmas responded with a more positive frame of mind in the presence of the tree.
"These manifestations can make people of certain cultures or beliefs feel excluded, something to take into account in social spaces where respect for cultural and religious diversity is valued, such as schools or workplaces," say the researchers in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology .
