I don't think it's either. We have been santa for several needy families. To me the Christmas spirit is about the joy of giving (whether it be time, kindness, or material things) not for any sort of recognition but because it feels good to brighten someone's day. To restore a belief in humanity.

Santa represents love, joy and giving. The year the twins learned the Christmas secret we started a new tradition of establishing a dollar amount that we spend on each child and spend a long weekend in a nearby town. This gave us family time alone for the holidays since we used to make a mad dash to both of our parents homes on Christmas. On this shopping trip I discovered I'd bought duplicates for my niece, my daughter asked if she could have the extras to give to an acqaintance of hers for her little "sister" (actually her niece). The mom/grandmother had been disabled and the little girl was five and the 15 year old sister was trying to make some extra money to give her a Christmas.

When we took the kids to toys r us so the twins could shop, they started throwing random "girl" toys in their cart. I was confused and when I asked them about it, they said they had so much, and this little girl had so little that they'd rather spend their Christmas money on her. If this is lying, I would prefer never to learn the truth myself.