A study reveals that many people overestimate the importance of giving new and timely gifts, leading to unnecessary stress and potentially choosing inferior presents.
If finding the right present and making sure the recipient gets it on time leaves you feeling anxious, you're not alone. More than half of Americans say they feel stressed about gift-giving. Why do people tend to overestimate these consequences? Our findings indicate that when people give presents, they pay more attention to norms about gifts being new. In reality, though, many people are often open to receiving used stuff.
We found that this mismatch also applies to beliefs about the importance of timing. Many people worry that a late gift will signal that they don't care about the recipient. They then fear their relationship will suffer. In reality, though, these fears are largely unfounded. Gift recipients are much less worried about when the gift arrives. Unfortunately, aside from causing unnecessary worry, being overly sensitive about giving a late present can also influence the gift you choose to buy. To test how lateness concerns affect gift choice, we conducted an online study before Mother's Day in 2021. We had 201 adults participate in a raffle. They could choose to send their mother either a cheaper gift basket that would arrive in time for the occasion or a more expensive one that would arrive late. Concerns about lateness led nearly 70 percent of the participants to choose the less expensive and more prompt option. Aside from finding that people will choose inferior items to ensure speedier delivery, we also found that givers may feel that they can compensate for lateness with effort. In another online study of 805 adults, we discovered that participants were less likely to expect a late delivery to damage a relationship if they signaled their care for the recipient in a different way. For example, they believed that putting an item together by hand, versus purchasing it preassembled, could compensate for a present being belated. If sending something late isn't as bad as expected, you may wonder whether it's OK to simply not send anything at al
GIFT GIVING SOCIAL NORMS TIMING PRESENT CHOICE RELATIONSHIPS
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