This post is in collaboration with ValuedVoice.
People love to give presents. Over the course of a year, there are many opportunities to gift your friends and loved ones unique items that they will enjoy; between birthdays, weddings and holidays like Mother’s Day and Christmas, gifts are a staple of any celebration. But why do people enjoy giving gifts so much?
Many Motivations
People give gifts for many reasons. Some like to make themselves feel good by basking in the glow of the recipient’s joy; others enjoy the thrill of the hunt when they find the perfect item from My Gift Stop. Either way, no matter what the gift or occasion is, gifts are practically a requirement for the majority of special occasions.
Philanthropy
Many people give gifts because they get pleasure out of helping others. Whether it’s giving new parents clothes and equipment for their newborn, kitchen appliances for a child’s first home, gifts that have a necessary and immediate use make the giver feel good about their ability to directly and positively affect another’s life. In a similar vein, charitable donations to a loved one’s favorite charity or personal cause will make both the giver and recipient happy that so many will benefit from their largesse.
Status Symbol
Where some people are genuine do-gooders in their gift-giving styles, some give presents as a way of displaying their status and not so much out of the goodness of their heart. For these types, the type, cost and sometimes literal size are all meant to display their wealth.
Rather than a wedding gift picked off a registry or a modest gift in keeping with the recipients’ lifestyle, the wedding present may be quite a large sum of money or a complete set of fine china that most people could only afford to buy piecemeal.
Traditional To-Do List
For some families, gifts are simply something that must be done. For these people, a gift is given simply because that’s always how it’s been done. For example, if Christmas Eve involves a family present of matching pajamas and a movie to watch together, then that is what must always happen no matter the cost or inconvenience. This type of giver can experience some anxiety in his or her attempt to fulfill their self-induced gift-giving requirements.
Handmade Experiences
Some gifters prefer a more hands-on approach. This type of person likes to spend their time making their own gifts, whether it’s baked goods, a knitted scarf or a framed photograph. They also like to gift experiences like movie tickets, museum passes or tickets to a local theme park as a way of creating memories for those they love. For them, something made by hand or experienced is a one-of-a-kind statement of the love they feel towards the recipient.
There are many different ways to give, and reasons for giving, a present and just as many types of gifts. Whether the gift is a high-end watch, a donation to a local nonprofit or a batch of fudge, gift-giving is done best as an act of love.