The best and worst holiday gifts according to science

By Jimmy Brown

Do:Give people gifts that they want

必送：對方想要的禮物

A study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that gift-givers overestimate the impact of a surprise gift.In fact,the study found that people tend to appreciate getting things they specifically asked for more than unsolicited presents.Make your life easy and stick to their holiday wish list.

發(fā)表在《實驗社會心理學雜志》上的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，送禮者高估了驚喜禮物的效果。事實上，研究結果顯示，相比自作主張的禮物，人們通常更喜歡收到自己指定的禮物。就按對方的愿望清單買吧，給你自己也省點事。

Do:Pick a gift card

必送：禮品卡

Gift cards may seem like an impersonal or lazy holiday gift,but surveys have found that they’re actually a popular pick among gift recipients.A survey conducted by the National Retail Federation,for example,found that they were the most requested gift of 2015.Want to keep it even simpler?Other research has found that people are perfectly happy to receive cash as a gift.

禮品卡看起來也許像是沒有人情味或是懶惰的節(jié)日禮物，然而調查發(fā)現(xiàn)，禮品卡其實是廣受歡迎的禮物。美國零售聯(lián)合會的一項調查就發(fā)現(xiàn)，禮品卡是2015年最多人想要的禮物。還想把送禮變得更簡單嗎？其他研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們收到現(xiàn)金作為禮物也非常開心。

Don’t:Give gifts on their behalf

不要：以對方的名義送出禮物

Making a charitable donation in a friend or family member’s name may seem like the perfect holiday gift:Your spending goes to a worthy cause,and the recipient gets a gift they feel good about.A 2015 study published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decisions,however,poked a hole in that theory.While close friends or family members may appreciate a socially responsible holiday gift,researchers found that casual acquaintances often feel slighted by them,potentially because the selection focuses“on the symbolic-meaning of the gift,”rather than on the recipient herself.

以朋友或家人的名義做慈善捐贈也許聽上去像是完美的節(jié)日禮物：你的錢捐給了有意義的事業(yè)，而收禮者也得到了讓自己感覺良好的禮物。2015年發(fā)表在《組織行為與人類決定》雜志上的一項研究卻對這一理論提出挑戰(zhàn)。雖然你的家人好友也許會喜歡一份有社會責任心的節(jié)日禮物，但是研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，普通朋友在收到這種禮物時經(jīng)常會覺得被輕視，潛在原因可能是這種禮物更注重“禮物的象征意義”而不是收禮者本人。

Do:Give gifts that reflect your audience and yourself.

必送：能夠反映收禮者和你本人特質的禮物

A series of studies published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology two years ago found,logically,that recipients prefer holiday gifts that reflect their own interests and hobbies.Interes—ingly,however,the researchers also found that“givers and receivers report greater feelings of closeness to their gift partner when the gift reflects the giver”.Sharing a favorite book,garment or keepsake with a loved one,then,may make the strongest impact in the long run.

兩年前發(fā)表在《實驗社會心理學雜志》上的一系列研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，收禮者更喜歡收到能反映出自己的興趣愛好的節(jié)日禮物，這倒是符合邏輯。然而，有趣的是，研究人員還發(fā)現(xiàn)，“如果禮物能反映出送禮者的個人特質，送禮者和收禮者都會感覺彼此更親密”。從長遠來看，和親朋好友分享最愛的書、衣服或紀念品也許影響最深。

Don’t:Splurge on something flashy.

不要：花大錢買浮華的禮物

It may feel like a faux pas to pick a holiday gift from the clearance section,but research suggests it’s the item—not the price tag—that matters most.While gift-givers tend to think their choices will land better if they’re expensive,research published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology didn’t back that up.In fact,there was no clear correlation between present price and recipient satisfaction.

從清倉甩賣區(qū)里選購節(jié)日禮物也許讓人感覺很失禮，但是研究顯示，真正重要的是物品本身，而不是價格。送禮者通常認為如果禮物貴重的話效果會更好，但是發(fā)表在《實驗社會心理學雜志》上的研究卻表明并非如此。事實上，禮物的價格和收禮者的滿意度之間沒有明顯的關聯(lián)。

Do:Give gifts that will last

必買：能長久留下來的禮物

Everyday items,like kitchen gadgets or wardrobe staples,may not feel like slam-dunk gifts,but a study published last year in Current Directions in Psychological Science found that people actually prefer presents they can use for months and years to come,rather than something that makes a statement right when it’s unwrapped.

廚房器具或基本款衣服這樣的日常用品也許聽上去不像是成功率太高的禮物，但是去年發(fā)表在《心理科學最新趨勢》上的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們實際上更喜歡自己能經(jīng)年累月使用的禮物，而不是只能享受打開那一刻的禮物。

Don’t:Dress up a bad gift

不要：把糟糕的禮物包裝得很漂亮

If you know a holiday gift is underwhelming,it may be tempting to overcompensate with big bows or fancy wrapping paper—but data from Yale’s Association for Consumer Research says that strategy may backfire.When people got a gift that they liked,the researchers found,attractive trappings slightly enhanced the experience.But when the gift itself was unsatisfactory a science documentary,for the purposes of the study—wrapping actually worsened the recipients’perception of the gift,likely because their expectations didn’t match reality.

如果你知道這份節(jié)日禮物不太如人意，也許你會想用華麗的包裝紙把它裹起來再打上大大的蝴蝶結來提升一下。但是耶魯大學消費者研究協(xié)會的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，這種策略可能會起到反效果。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，當人們得到自己喜歡的禮物時，漂亮的包裝會讓他們更快樂一點。但是如果禮物本身不令人滿意（研究中選用的糟糕禮物是科學紀錄片），包裝實際上會讓收禮者更討厭這份禮物，可能是因為期望和現(xiàn)實不相符的緣故。