What makes a true Santa is inside - and comes with the red suit

"When you picture Santa Claus, a white, bearded, overweight and jolly man who dashes around delivering gifts to children during the Christmas season probably comes to mind. Yet, not everyone who dons the red suit fits this stereotype. That's what Bethany Cockburn, Borbala Csillag and I learned when we teamed up to study professional Santas. For our study, we looked into how these professional Santas were able to "be" Santa, even if they didn't fully fit the image."

"Prototypical Santas look the part. They are white and overweight, have real beards and express confidence that they are the right fit. Semi-prototypical Santas looked the part, too, but felt like they weren't quite suitable for a range of reasons. They might be introverted or use a fake beard. Nonprototypical Santas had characteristics at odds with the stereotype. They might be nonwhite, female or gay, or have a physical disability."

Professional Santas cluster into three types: prototypical, semi-prototypical, and nonprototypical. Prototypical Santas conform to the familiar image: white, overweight, real beards, and confidence in the role. Semi-prototypical Santas resemble the stereotype but experience a sense of misfit and sometimes compensate with stories, props, or managing introversion. Nonprototypical Santas visibly differ—nonwhite, female, gay, or disabled—but share values aligned with Santa such as being peaceful, loving, and kind, and they make substantial efforts to meet visitor expectations. Data were collected from 849 professional Santas across the U.S. with 53 interviews between 2018 and 2021.

Read at The Conversation