Is your Christmas tree secretly telling the world who you really are?
Whether you’re committed to the classic look, a lover of minimalism, or someone who lets it all hang out, your choice of holiday centerpieces could be revealing more about your personality type to the world than you ever imagined, according to behavioral expert Darren Stanton.
A former law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Stanton is known to British television audiences as “The Human Lie Detector,” owing to his ability to extract the truth from suspects and interviewees. He has a degree in psychology and is considered a body language expert.
From placement in the home to the level of creativity and care, the design flair (or lack thereof), Stanton spoke with Sweep.io, developing a profile for a range of popular tree styles — and the trimmers that bring them to life.
Here — in his own words — are Stanton’s complete findings.
“It’s a true reflection of someone’s personality when someone opts for a small tree. They don’t like clutter and like things to be dealt with in a specific way.”
“Organization is an important part of their day and personality. Having a small tree, they are still acknowledging it’s Christmas, but it’s taking up minimal space.”
“Again, they prefer having the practicality of having a smaller tree. I suspect their environment will be well utilized in terms of space.”
“They are the type of person that is very procedural in their day-to-day lifestyle. When it comes to putting away the tree, it will be done with no fuss.”
“That person will soon resume back to their normal environment once the festive season is over.”
“Some people prefer to make their own decorations as it’s a true reflection of their personality. They tend to be open people and quite opinionated.”
“They don’t mind being seen as the outsider, so they’ll generally think outside the box. They’ll also be creative in terms of their occupation and the way they think.”
“They’ll encourage people to make things themselves, rather than buy it because it’s a way of letting their creativity shine through. They will be quite ecological in their beliefs and recycling is important to them.”
“They’ll use the same decorations for the following years, but also add to it by getting creative and making new ones as well.”
“A person who gets a tree that’s too big for the room is overly ambitious and grand. They are big risk takers. They tend to want to go overboard with things.”
“Again, you might see this person go over the top with Christmas lights outside their homes. They are the type of people who wear Christmas [sweaters] and play Christmas music earlier on in the year.”
“In terms of occupation, they tend to be entrepreneurs, CEOs, or anything where they can think big and outside the box. The way they decorate their Christmas tree is no different.”
“The tree will engulf the room, and no matter how wrong they’ve got it in terms of measurements, this person will never acknowledge that they’re wrong.”
“In fact, these people will want to get an even bigger tree as the years go on. There will be an overcompensation of Christmas lights and baubles.”
“People that choose real, classic trees tend to be very traditionalist. Their Christmas is often the same year in and year out, such as presents under the tree on Christmas Eve.
Some people sometimes open some presents on Christmas Eve, but that would be abhorrent to traditionalists. They like to follow everything to the letter. They are quite old fashioned and traditional.”
“They like to abide by many of the popular traditions associated with Christmas, as they are very conventional people. They have to be completely authentic to Christmas.
“They are the type of people to leave a glass of milk and [cookies], regardless of their age.”
“When Christmas decorations take on a contemporary feel, these people tend to think they’ve got a lot of class. They will dress in designer clothing and always look immaculate.”
“You won’t see this person in the supermarket dressed in pajamas or [gym clothes]. They want to show the best version of themselves to the world.”
“As an extension of their personality, when it comes to decorating a tree, it’s all about minimalism. They won’t overload the tree. It will be classy in terms of minimal lights, baubles and tinsel.”
“Their tree is a real reflection of the way that person sees the world. They always want to be seen as being the best version of themselves.”
“Those who tend to choose an artificial Christmas tree are very methodical, procedural, and specific. Getting their decorations out of the loft or storage is almost a military operation.”
“They tend to stick their tree up in record time. They are traditional in the sense of putting lots of decorations up, but everything has to be in a certain place.”
“They are also the people who don’t labor on keeping their decorations up. Some people tend to leave their decorations up well past Christmas, but people with an artificial tree will follow the 12 days of Christmas rule.”
“Once that time has elapsed, back up the [attic] everything goes, into its rightful place until next year. They are very methodical and straightforward.”
“Quirky people are always interesting because they won’t have any limitations or sense of proportion. They’ll buy way too many lights, baubles and tinsel. They’ll basically overload the tree until it’s groaning.”
“These types of people will also put enough lights outside of their house to power a small town. They’ll go over and above the norm in terms of being ostentatious and being overly loud.”
“When you get these people that have a massive abundance of Christmas lights and decorations outside, chances are that they’ve got a tree that is equally as loud and quirky indoors.”
“They’re probably similar in everyday life — very outgoing, larger than life, quite loud, and a complete extrovert.”
“The sort of people who decorate their tree to perfection tend to be bold, outgoing people. They like everything in its place, meaning that they are quite specific to a degree. They are very much in charge of decorations, and they won’t let anyone else assist them.”
“They have a clear system in place and everything has to be totally sympathetical. They probably wouldn’t have more baubles on one side of the tree to the other.”
“They apply the same sort of mindset or mentality in that everything has to be balanced and aesthetically pleasing, otherwise it would irk them. It’s like looking at a picture that’s off-center.”
“Most people wouldn’t mind, but people with these sort of character traits wouldn’t want to see a picture slanted.”
“They are the very same when it comes to decorating the tree. It has to be perfectly straight, symmetrical and balanced.”
“Too many lights and decorations, again, this is the sort of person that has a very loud and outgoing personality. They really want to go all out for Christmas.”
“You’ll find they have a ridiculous angel or star at the top of the tree. They want their tree to be seen as the greatest and best in the area.”
“These types of people keep going one step further each year. These people also tend to be quite charitable.
“They are the sort of people who will give mince pies to carol singers, rather than not answering the door. This person will be a good listener, the kind of soul who takes care of other people and makes them feel special.”