Comic-Con International's video: Christmas in July: The Psychology of Pop Culture and Christmas Comic-Con@Home2020

It may be July, but Christmas is in the air! People love the holidays and have fond memories of various Christmas media, from watching A Charlie Brown Christmas to listening to "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey to debating whether The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween or Christmas movie. Christmas movies and television shows come from every genre such as horror, science fiction (anyone remember the Star Wars Holiday Special), to classic stories with Santa Claus. Christmas media is so popular that some television and radio stations run Christmas marathons and specials 24 hours a day during December. What are the psychological aspects about our personality that influence returning year after year to those favorite holiday classics and the desire to experience new Christmas media? Keith W. Beard, Psy.D., April Fugett, Ph.D. (professor of psychology, Marshall University), Britani Black, Psy.D. (Marshall University School of Medicine), and graduate assistants Casey Collins and Jake Bass, M.A., conducted a national survey to identify what are people’s favorite Christmas movies, TV shows/specials, and songs. Additionally, we examined participant’s personality, as well as their world beliefs to investigate what aspects of our personalities and attitudes draw us to these old and new Christmas classics. Results from the study will be presented along with an overview of the psychological theory behind the pop culture research.