Giving good gifts is an art.
The right gift can make someone feel better or help two people get along better.
It can make up for a mistake or just show a loved one that you care.
Psychologists have always been interested in the idea of giving gifts because it shows how we see other people, how we decide what things are worth, how we make decisions, and how well we can empathise.
“Humans are a very social species, and being able to make and keep relationships with other people is one of the things that makes us unique.
Giving gifts on holidays, birthdays, graduations, or weddings is a great way to keep in touch with people “a psychologist at the University of Worcester named Daniel Farrelly said.
Giving presents has also become a business with high stakes.
In the US, people think they will spend $942 on Christmas gifts this year, up from $885 last year.
The total amount spent on gifts is expected to be more than $1 trillion.
When things go wrong, they can cost more and more.
No matter what the event is, giving gifts is a social custom that requires careful thought and planning.
So, should I follow a set of rules?
We talked to some gift-giving experts to help us put together a simple guide.
Here are 5 important tips.
1) Don’t give a small gift along with a big one.
Feel like putting a tie on a nice shirt?
A bottle of grand cru champagne and some flowers?
Don’t.
When we get a bunch of gifts at once, we tend to subconsciously average out their value. This means that if you add a small gift to a big one, it will take away from the big one.
This is called the “Presenter’s Paradox,” and it was first shown in a 2012 study with the same name. In that study, participants were offered either an iPod by itself or an iPod with a free download for one song.
When asked how much they would pay for it, people who were offered an iPod with a cheap download put a 20% lower price on it than those who weren’t.
When asked which option they would give as a gift, most people chose the one with the download. This shows that when it comes to giving gifts, we don’t understand that (sometimes) less is more.
“If you gave someone an expensive bottle of wine and some plastic cups to drink it out of, the value of the gift would drop right away.
People don’t tend to think about these kinds of things in a practical and logical way “said Farrelly.
2) Give people experiences instead of things
A brand-new iPhone gets old very quickly.
But a dream vacation or going to a concert by your favourite band will give you memories that will last a lifetime.
“People tend to think more about things they’ve done and remember them better.
We might remember the tablet that a friend or loved one gave us, but not as much as a two-week trip to Florida. The memories and feelings we have about a trip are stronger than our memories of a physical object “Farrelly told him.
In short, this is why you should choose an experience over a physical thing.
Thomas Gilovich, a psychologist, agrees with this idea. His research shows that money spent on doing things makes people happier in the long run than money spent on having things.
Experiences also build up excitement, which makes the days or weeks leading up to an event more fun.
3) Gift cards aren’t a bad thing
Giving gifts can be a waste of money.
Joel Waldfogel, an economist and the author of a study called “The Deadweight Loss of Christmas,” said, “We only spend $10 on ourselves if we find something we think is worth more than $10 to us.”
“But giving gifts is different because we’re not buying for ourselves,” he said.
“So we can give someone something that costs $10 but is worth less than $10 to them.
It might not mean anything to them.”
It shines!
A look at some of the most amazing light shows in the world
Cash is something that everyone agrees has the same value.
In some cultures, giving cash as a gift is common, but it’s not for everyone, and it can be seen as lazy or even rude.
What’s the best thing after that?
“Over time, gift cards have become much more popular.
And the people who get them like them a lot, “said Waldfogel.
Gift cards aren’t perfect — they still seem to lose some value, and each year, billions of dollars worth of them aren’t used — but they’re better than a last-minute or poorly chosen gift.
4) Think like the person who will get the message
To put it simply, buy things that the person you’re giving the gift to would buy for themselves.
Even though that may seem obvious, it doesn’t happen nearly as often as we’d like.
People usually give gifts as jokes, as a way to get someone to change their ways, or as a way to say something about themselves, not because they want to help or make someone happy.
The best way to get it right is to just ask straight away, “What do you want?”
Waldfogel says, “Family members now talk to each other to agree on gifts that everyone wants, instead of shopping blindly.”
5) Give more money to others than you do to yourself
The last rule is simple: remember that giving is a gift.
A study shows that giving money to other people makes you happier.
Giving someone a gift they love may also make you feel better for longer than buying something for yourself.
The first Christmas card ever printed will be on display just in time for the holiday season.
So, it’s important to take care of yourself, but remember that being nicer to the people around you can also help you.
But if all else fails, remember that the saying “it’s the thought that counts” has a reason behind it.
“Don’t forget why you’re giving gifts,” said Farrelly. “Most people don’t want you to spend a lot of money on them; they just want you to think about them, which you can do in a lot of easy ways.”
In the top picture, Mickey Rooney gives Ann Rutherford a gift in a scene from the 1941 movie “Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary.”
