Psychological ownership is that feeling that someone stole ‘your’ parking spot or nabbed the last sweater you had your eye on. We have a tendency to get territorial when we feel it’s been violated.
It’s the season to be jolly – but don’t share that jollity with your pets. Alcohol, whether in a wine glass, egg-nog or a boozy pudding, is seriously bad for our animal friends.
Aboriginal missions were notorious for their austerity, but Christmas was a brief time of joy. While celebrations had a sinister assimilationist edge, Aboriginal people often adopted traditions into their own culture.
What if Santa’s job is one of those taken over by an intelligent machine? Would a robot Santa begin to question its purpose and the existence of those it’s designed to serve at Christmas?
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote letters to his children from Father Christmas every year for 23 years. And they’re filled with elves, goblins and playful polar bears.
It’s said Puerto Rico has the longest Christmas in the world, a noisy two-month celebration that goes through mid-January. Can the holidays still happen in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria?
Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences, BA (Hons), MSc, PhD, CPsychol, HE Cert (Couns.), PG Dip (Couns.), FHEA, FRGS, MBACP (Accred), University of Bristol
Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity