Gift-giving has long been a fascinating topic for studies in the humanities and psychology, anthropology, economics, and marketing. Researchers from different perspectives have concluded that gift-giving is a surprisingly important and complex part of human interactions. Exchange of gifts leads to determination and consolidation of relationships between family and friends. According to psychologists, the person who gives the gift always benefits from more positive psychological advantages than the recipient.
History of gift giving
Giving birthday gifts is perhaps one of the oldest human activities that goes back to the pre-human civilization and the origin of our species. So that even in the primitive cave culture, giving gifts was a common activity to express and attract the love and affection of others. Another type of gift is defined as a symbol and a symbol that the leaders of the clan or clans presented to each other for appreciation or respect.
In pre-civilized times, these gifts were often obtained from nature. According to the findings of archaeologists, for example, a gift could be a stone with a strange appearance or a tooth of an animal. When man achieved civilization and was able to make tools, gifts gradually became more complex in terms of nature or function. For example, holes were made inside the teeth with the help of tools and placed next to other precious stones to form an ornamental necklace.
The social value of gift-giving can be identified and traced throughout the history of mankind. For thousands of years, some indigenous cultures participated in a ceremony called a potlatch. In this complex social ceremony, the ritual of giving and giving gifts was celebrated. Although there are different cultural interpretations, in the mentioned ancient culture, any family that had given more than the others enjoyed more respect and social status. And the respect and dignity that each family received was directly related to the amount it gave.
In modern times, buying gifts has become a part of our daily culture. Our gifts define who we are and what message we send to the recipient. Gifts are used in various ceremonies and events in order to create communication and our tools.
Why do we give gifts?
At a basic level, we give because we are supposed to give and because we are expected to give. Birthdays, anniversaries, parties, and New Year's celebrations can be mentioned among the occasions when this expectation exists. In general, gift giving is an institutionalized human custom.
The reason for this custom is to achieve an important goal: to express gratitude and love. We give gifts to others in order to express our appreciation and value for them and the role they play in our lives.
We give gifts to those with whom we want to establish and continue a relationship, this relationship is not only romantic and emotional and includes all human relationships. Gift giving is an important part of human interactions. This can represent our relationships with others and helps to strengthen our bond with our friends, family and emotional partner.
Why do we love gift giving?
In the Christian Bible, there is a verse with this theme: "Forgiving is better than receiving." You may have heard this saying, but you probably don't quite believe it. Although we admit that it is good to give and give gifts, obviously it gives us a good feeling when other people are happy with our gifts, but how can this feeling be better than receiving gifts from others?
In fact, it turns out that the Bible verse is more than just a benevolent religious verse. Scientific research shows that giving a gift is actually better than receiving a gift for the reasons mentioned. It is interesting to know that the total value of gifts exchanged in the United States alone, including voluntary charitable gifts, reaches more than half a trillion dollars ($500 billion) per year. This shows that the gift buying culture has a significant impact on the global economy.
We love gift giving for the following psychological reasons:
Create a good feeling
Here's something that might give you more motivation when shopping for your next gift: Giving gifts to others can make you happier. No matter what gift you get in return.
Scientific research shows that people who give gifts are happier people. For example, in a research, employees who received a work reward and spent part of it on giving gifts to others, felt an increase in happiness. On the other hand, spending more on themselves did not have much effect on their positive feelings.
Positive effect on health!
Need another reason to gift? It turns out that buying gifts is good for your health. And it even increases life expectancy.
Research shows that being generous with money or time boosts the immune system, reduces physical pain, and lowers the risk of depression or heart disease. A 5-year study in Detroit, USA, discovered that people who help others are better able to cope with problems and stress in their happy lives. People who rushed to help others also had a lower death rate than people who did not. In addition, they had received various mental and physical benefits.
Giving gifts mentally and spiritually
After reading the above paragraph, the question may have occurred to you, how can giving gifts make us healthier and happier? In response, we must say that the reason should be sought in the chemical activities of the human brain and soul.
You have probably heard and read a lot about the damage that stress does to people. It is interesting to know that gift giving reduces the release of stress hormones in the body. And at the same time, it causes the release of two hormones, endorphin and dopamine, in the brain. These two hormones are responsible for the reward part of our brain. And in general, they determine the feeling of happiness and good feeling in our body.
That warm and pleasant feeling of happiness that we get when we give gifts to others is the result of the release of happy hormones endorphin and dopamine in our brain. The problem is that when we buy for ourselves, this feeling arises in us to a lesser extent, brain scans have confirmed this issue.
What are the types of gifts?
Gifts can be categorized in different ways and types. Below are some of these general categories:
Material gifts
There are gifts that have material and financial value. These gifts are usually such that the recipient can resell it in the open market if he wishes. Material gifts cover a wide range and can include anything of financial value. From gold and jewelry to cars and real estate, etc.
Spiritual gifts
These gifts get their main value not from the amount of money that was paid for it, but from the amount of time, feeling or thought that the giver spent to prepare and present it. This gift can be a piece of poetry and text, a painting, a piece of music, etc. Everything depends on the creativity and initiative of the gift giver. As mentioned above, women's brains respond positively to gifts that have feelings and emotions flowing through them.
Material-spiritual gifts
In these gifts, there are both material-spiritual aspects with different ratios. For this reason, they benefit from the benefits of both. For this category of gifts, some money is spent and they have high spiritual and emotional value and potential.
Individual-emotional gifts
The types of gifts that ordinary people offer to each other for different reasons and intentions are included in this category. The main purpose of giving these gifts is usually to create a good feeling and strengthen human relationships. For example, we can mention birthday gifts, Eid igfts, Valentine gifts, and wedding anniversary gifts.
Organizational-promotional gifts
Promotional-organizational gifts follow strategic goals and business-management intentions. These goals can be advertising, branding, building employee and customer loyalty, informing, bribery, etc. In general, such gifts have a strategic and logical aspect rather than emotional aspects. For this reason, it can be said that they do not have the emotional impact of individual gifts.