Need cheering up? Attend a Christmas service! Taking part in a carol concert makes you happier, study claims
- Taking part in a Christmas carol service makes you happier, a new study claims
- More than 1,000 people attending Liverpool Cathedral services were surveyed
- Research utilised widely-used psychometric scale Oxford Happiness Inventory
- Showed carol services had big impact on people’s mental health and wellbeing
We all love to get in the Christmas spirit and spread a bit of festive cheer.
But now a new study suggests that doing so can have a positive impact on your mental health and wellbeing.
That’s because taking part in a carol service makes you happier, researchers claim.
More than 1,000 people attending Christmas services at Liverpool Cathedral were surveyed before the service and again just before it ended, using the widely-used psychometric scale, the Oxford Happiness Inventory.
Overall, people scored significantly higher in the second test than the first, suggesting that attendance at the service made the participants happy and had a big impact on their mental health and wellbeing.
Festive cheer: Taking part in a Christmas carol service makes you happier, research suggests
The Dean of Liverpool, the Very Reverend Sue Jones, said: ‘I am really encouraged by these findings. We say that the cathedral is a place of encounter — a place to encounter the God who knows and loves us and a place in which people can feel affirmed and loved.
‘And now we know that works; not just for churchgoers, but for all the people of Liverpool.’
She added: ‘The cathedral is adding something to Liverpool’s sense of wellbeing. And I praise God for that.’
The research team led by the University of Warwick tested 383 people before and after the Holly Bough Service, held on the Fourth Sunday in Advent, at Liverpool Cathedral in 2019, and then applied the same wellbeing measure to 802 people attending Christmas carol services in that same year.
In the test, participants were asked to respond to the same 29 statements before and after the service such as:
- ‘I do not feel particularly pleased with the way I am’
- ‘I find beauty in some things’
- ‘I do not have a particular sense of meaning and purpose in my life’
The results showed that the Christmas carol services had a positive impact on those attending, researchers said.
Previous research into attendance at cathedrals found that visitors identified the benefits of peace and quiet and of connecting spiritually and emotionally.
Research: More than 1,000 people attending Christmas services at Liverpool Cathedral (pictured) were surveyed before and after the service using a widely-used psychometric scale
One study looked at visitors to three different environments (a cathedral, castle and shopping centre), and reported that for some, visiting the cathedral impacted their sense of self-esteem.
This latest paper is part of broader research into the positive impact of Anglican cathedrals on their local communities and the relationship between religion and happiness.
Co-author Leslie Francis, professor of religions and psychology at the University of Warwick, and Canon Theologian at Liverpool Cathedral, said: ‘Liverpool Cathedral is committed to using the best scientific tools to evaluate its mission and ministry and to use that evidence to shape its priorities for the future.’
He added: ‘It is important to test the research in peer-review journals before inviting the church to take it seriously and I am pleased to say these findings can be taken seriously.
‘But, as a scientist, further research is always needed to test and build on findings and we look forward to examining Christmas in other cathedrals, as well as other highlight events and services at different times throughout the year in Liverpool Cathedral.’
The study has been published in the journal Theological Studies.