People give gifts for various reasons; typically to express love, gratitude or appreciation – though the concept extends well beyond special occasions like birthdays and holidays – anytime is an appropriate time to show you care! Gift-giving should never stop being practiced in our daily lives; even on random days we can show our affection by gifting something nice!
Gift-giving creates an emotional bond between people, and forms an essential component of how we interact with our friends and family. Research has also indicated that giving presents increases trust between individuals, leading to more positive relationships overall.
Research shows that receiving gifts triggers our reward centers of our brain and makes us feel good, especially when the present meets or surpasses our expectations – for instance when we receive something exactly what we wanted or even better than anticipated! When this occurs, everyone involved wins out.
When we don’t receive what we expected or receive something we dislike as gifts, we may feel betrayed and frustrated. Because gifts often hold special meaning to us, when they fail to meet expectations it can feel as if someone failed in their attempt at making us happy.
But selecting the ideal present can be challenging. A study published in Psychological Science suggests the key is showing your recipient you put thought and care into selecting and giving their gift, including selecting an item, wrapping it beautifully, and giving it to them in such a way that makes them feel special. The more effort put into giving such gifts, the bigger will be their return.
Giving gifts is a wonderful way to strengthen relationships, mark special events and add excitement and festivity into everyday events.
If finances are tight, homemade gifts can be an ideal and budget-conscious solution. From creating photo collages of special moments to helping someone set up their TV or computer – homemade presents make thoughtful gestures while being cost effective options.
Noncological gifting has proven highly successful as an alternative gift-giving strategy, providing nonreciprocal gifts such as beautiful cards or flowers without expecting anything in return. This strategy can be particularly helpful when wronging someone and want to show your remorse; noncological gifting activates the oxytocin response which triggers feelings of love and empathy – more powerful even than simply saying sorry in words.