Picking the perfect gift? Then plump for something you like

WHEN it comes to the minefield of buying gifts, common sense dictates it’s best to give something the other person will like.

But a study by psychologists suggests that if you want to give a present that brings you closest together, a selfish approach is best.

Giving a gift that is all about your own tastes or personality makes the receiver feel emotionally closer to you than one that reflects their tastes, a study found.

Researchers surveyed 528 people asking what kind of presents people preferred. The majority said they would prefer gifts that were about their interests, rather than those of the person giving the gift.

But when this was tested in a series of experiments, the researchers found this was not the case. In one study, 100 people were asked to choose a song on iTunes as a gift to a friend, relation or romantic partner. Half were asked to give a track that ‘reveals your true self’ and half one that ‘reveals your knowledge of the recipient’.

When the researchers contacted the recipients, the ones who received a track about the giver’s ‘true self ’ said they felt closer to the giver. The closeness rating was not affected by how positively the recipient felt.

The authors, Lara Aknin of Simon Fraser University in Canada and Lauren Human of the University of California, say ‘people may well be advised to offer more self-reflective gifts if building stronger social connections is the underlying goal’.