Many children still believe in santas?

(CNN) Santa Claus comes to town - about 85% of young Americans believe In an interview, 85% of 4-year-olds said they believed in Santa. 65% of 6-year-olds said they believed, and 25% of 8-year-olds said they believed These figures were published in a small study in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry in 1978. But researchers say the percentage of young children who believe in the old Saint Nick seems to have stabilized over the years. Research in the Journal of Cognition and Development in 2011 shows that 83% of five-year-olds believe that Santa Claus is real, writes the study's recent study author Jacqueline Woolley. "We've found in recent studies that this 85% number sounds right," said Thalia Goldstein, assistant professor of developmental psychology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. "Children's belief in Santa began when they were between 3 and 4 years. They were very effective when they were between 4 and 8 years ago," he said. "Then at 8 years old when we started. Seeing the decline of faith when children begin. To understand the reality of Santa Claus. "Nearly three-quarters of Americans say they get a visit from Santa as a child and one in five adults say they are parents or guardians of children at home, who believe in Santa, according to Pew Research Center, published in May. 2013, although the United States. The number of children who believe in Papa Noel seems to be similar in some European countries. Of the 161 parents in the United Kingdom, 92.5 percent think the Father is true for their children. Aged 8 years, according to research papers presented at the 1999 European Union Research Association Annual Conference in Finland. But it turns out that most children live in Santa Claus. There are more opportunities for them to believe that he is. "Real" Santa, according to a study published last year in the journal Cognitive Development. Goldstein, who co-wrote a short study with Woolley, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. A total of 77 children ages 2-10 were interviewed after visiting a Santa Claus man in the Children's Science Museum in Norwalk, Connecticut. Interviews took place during the week before Christmas. According to an interview, 39.2% of the children believed that the visiting man was Santa Claus, who fell 38.8%. But believe he is alive at the North Pole and can communicate with Real Santa, Goldstein said. Then 13.8% said that the man was not Santa. He says that he is a non-Santa. And not the North Pole. But can communicate with real Santa. Researchers have limited the study of how Santa's unbelieving children are excluded from the group because "They may hesitate to come with their parents to organize this event." "The age is not anticipated, if they want to believe that Santa lives as a real guy, then we realize what parents were calling to children - the number of Santa activities and the promotion of Santa. With their parents dealt with - it was also affected. Whether the kids believe it or not is a real Santa, "Golstein said. "The only thing that affects their faith is how much Santa Claus is involved with this year," he said. On the other hand, age and cognitive development seems to predict when children begin to lose their faith in Santa. Andrew Shtulman is a cognitive development psychologist and professor at Occidental College. Los Angeles. "It is no coincidence that children stopped believing in Santa during the first year of elementary education, because it was a time when it was developing a more complex idea of ​​what was possible and what was. No, "Stoulman said. A separate investigation into the beliefs of children in Santa Claus. "In our study, we asked the children to create a questionnaire asking Santa to compare the questions they were thinking about their ability to identify possible events," said Stathman. "We found that the best kids could test the probability of a crisis, they expressed doubts in their questions," he said. For example, Stathman says children will change from asking questions. "How high is the pole?" Or "What is your elf name?" "How do you fit in the chimney?" And "How do you know if I'm naughty or good?" When children move from faith to the Father to doubt, they are most likely to feel proud to solve a holiday puzzle, Goldstein said. "They are part of an older age group that does not need to believe in Santa Claus," Goldstein said. "If a parent finds out his children do not believe in Santa and are very uneasy about this, there are other options," he said. "You can talk about Santa Claus as the spirit of redistribution, or how to. Help other people or ways to think of someone who may not be as lucky as you are. "