Secret Santa

A new study has found that many millennials now want to ban the practice of “Secret Santa” in offices over the holiday season because it “gives them anxiety.”

Millennials Find “Secret Santa” To Be “Anxiety-Inducing”

A study that was carried out by the British job-hunting site Jobsite concluded that millennials find the “Secret Santa” gift exchange to be anxiety-inducing. Dr. Ashley Weinberg, a psychology lecturer at the University of Salford in Manchester, hypothesizes that this anxiety stems from the fear of appearing “stingy,” which makes the tradition “stressful” for some.

No, we’re not joking. Millennials really do seem to fear “Secret Santa” like the plague these days.

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The study concluded that 78% of millennials felt they contributed “more than they should” to a present for an office party compared to 58% of the rest of the workforce. In addition, 26% of millennials admitted to dipping into savings or over-drafting their accounts to pay for an office gift.

Almost 17 % said that they “felt judged” by their co-workers for their choice of gift.

Nearly one third of millennials said that they wanted to ban “Secret Santa” altogether, and when asked why this was, Weinberg said it was likely pressure from social media.

“If you’ve grown up in a world where social media is at your fingertips and those kinds of social judgments are being made fairly constantly, suddenly you’re even more aware of what others might be thinking,” Weinberg explained. “Naturally, that’s going to spill over into all kinds of areas, particularly something that can be a social taboo when you think about maybe not giving, or maybe questioning why people are giving.”

There are many on social media who are weighing in on this topic. Here are just a few responses:

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Fox News Hosts Weigh In

When the study recently came up on Fox Nation’s “After the Show Show,” the hosts had mixed feelings about it.

“I hate it… I hate it so much,” co-host Jillian Mele, 37, said of “Secret Santa.” “People spend too much money as is around the holidays so why are we adding to it? Maybe you should have the conversation with your co-workers… ‘let’s not do it.'”

When asked if the tradition gives her anxiety, Mele said, “It does, I’m already figuring out what to get everyone.”

When guest host Emily Compagno suggested a $10 maximum for office “Secret Santas,” Mele said this would not help.

“Even if it’s $10, those are sometimes the hardest because you want to get a really good gift but it’s hard to find,” Mele said. “I don’t know, I just hate it.”

“You can’t go wrong with a gift card to a coffee place,” Compagno replied, with cohost Steve Doocy chiming in, “Go to the dollar store and just get some crazy stuff.”

Millennials Always Have To Ruin The Fun For Everyone

It’s sad that we’ve reached a point in society that a fun, harmless little tradition like “Secret Santa” is under attack for being “stressful” and “anxiety-inducing.” If the worst thing that is happening in the life of a millennial is agonizing over what “Secret Santa” gift to get someone in the office, things are going pretty good for them.

Besides, if millennials hate “Secret Santa” so much, they could always sit it out. Why must they ruin the fun for everyone else just because it’s not their cup of tea?

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