Some people love it, some people hate it, but is our reaction to Christmas music more than just musical preference? Or does “falalalala” have a deeper psychological meaning and impact on our health? Why is it that when some people hear, for example, Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas,” they are immediately transported to childhood and flush with happy feelings? Why do we seek out the same Christmas songs over and over again (including, oddly, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”) in a way that we may not do with other types of music?
Experts in This Article
professor of psychology at Fordham University and a cognitive-behavioral psychologist at Wellness Associates in White Plains
chair of the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University
Research has shown that music affects nearly all parts of the brain, including the areas that deal with memory and emotion.
“When people listen to music that they like, we find lots of interesting activity in the parts of the brain that deal with pleasure, emotion, and reward,” says Robert Zatorre, Ph.D., chair of the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University and author of From Perception to Pleasure: The Neuroscience of Music and Why We Love It. But, technically, that works with any music. “We’ve had people select jazz, classical, bagpipes, tango, pop, rock, etc.,” Zatorre says of his studies.
Still, holiday music does seem unique in its ability to tap our nostalgia and emotions in a way that feels nearly healing. So, is there something special about Mariah Carey’s Christmas album? Let’s find out.
How does Christmas music impact us?
While he hasn’t studied Christmas music specifically, Zatorre’s work analyzing the dopamine hit elicited by music and further research reported by the American Psychological Association show that music you enjoy can reduce stress and put you in a good mood. So it turns out “All I Want for Christmas Is You” may, in fact, have some mood-boosting health benefits: “If someone is a fan of Christmas music, it could indeed have a positive physiological effect,” says Zatorre.
Ronald Borczon, professor emeritus of music at California State University, Northridge, also points out that Christmas music can feel nearly therapeutic because of the structure of the music itself: Christmas tunes are typically in a major key, which is most often associated with positive feelings (versus music in a minor key, which is more dissonant and associated with sadness). Further, Danish scientists conducting a small study in 2022 found that Christmas music may reduce blood pressure levels and, per researchers, “increase the Christmas spirit.”
But what if you’re a Christmas Grinch?
The Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge aren’t suddenly going to feel happy when they hear “Jingle Bells”—instead, the music could make them feel scroogier.
“If people hate Christmas music, it would have the opposite effect, in fact,” Zatorre says. And even if you like Christmas music, the repetition can change your experience of it, says Dean McKay, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Fordham University. “When music is played repetitively, it can go from pleasant to unpleasant—it crosses that threshold.”
But most people try to occupy the mindset that Christmas music is enjoyable, Dr. McKay says. “If Christmas music is played within the North American societal boundaries of the day after Thanksgiving to the day after Christmas, most people associate it with the joyous mood of the season.” (Hint, hint, retailers: playing Christmas music in October could backfire!)
The nostalgia factor (i.e. why you’ve watched Elf 100 times)
The memories that Christmas music brings up can have a healing effect, causing the brain to increase serotonin levels and soothe anxiety, according to Daniel J. Levitin, a professor emeritus of psychology at McGill University who has studied the neurochemistry of music and wrote This Is Your Brain on Music. In addition, people actively and consciously seek out the same experiences again and again because they expect to experience the same positive emotions they have in the past, according to a 2012 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research.
For this reason, we watch the same movies, read the same books, and listen to Christmas songs on repeat—to actively find the joy it gave us previously. So people who like Christmas music will likely have a positive physiological response (also known as Christmas spirit) each year, given it’s not overplayed.
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