Tis the season when professional Santas are in peak demand, but many who choose this line of work often view it as a higher calling and maintain some aspects of the identity all year round—even those who don’t fit the stereotypical popular image of Santa, according to a paper published in the Academy of Management Journal.
Co-author Christina Hymer of the University of Tennessee got the idea for the study during the COVID pandemic, when she spent a lot of time watching Christmas movies with her toddler. One favorite was 2003’s Elf, starring Will Farrell as a full-sized human raised among elves who goes to New York City to find his biological father. The film prompted her to wonder about why someone would want to be Santa Claus and what their experiences in that role would be.
Hymer and her co-authors partnered with the leader of a “Santa school” to analyze archival surveys of 849 professional Santas, and conducted a new survey of another 382 Santas. They also did over 50 personal interviews with professional Santas. (One subject showed up in full costume for his zoom interview, with a North Pole background, and signed off with a merry “ho! ho! ho!”)
Hymer et al. found that professional Santas tend to fall into one of three categories. The first is a prototypical Santa: straight, portly white men with natural white beards. There are also semi-prototypical Santas who might fit the traditional physical characteristics in some respects but not others—they might be younger, or slimmer, or clean-shaven. Finally, there are non-prototypical Santas who are well outside the traditional depiction: people of color, women, disabled Santas, or LGBTQ+ Santas.
“There are pretty strong societal expectations around what Santa looks like, but we found that most anybody can be Santa if their heart desires it,” said co-author Borbala Csillag of Oregon State University. “When we looked at the people behind the suit, we found that the folks playing Santa are really more diverse than would be expected. The expectations for playing the role may seem exclusive, but they are surmountable. Think about your attributes in a comprehensive way so you can identify the dimensions of the role that are well-fitting. You will likely find attributes that map to that calling, even if they are not obvious at first.”