gift

{{Short description|Item given to someone without the expectation of anything in return}}

A gift or present is an item given to someone (who is not already the owner) without the expectation of payment or anything in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is intended to be free. In many countries, the act of mutually exchanging money, goods, etc., may sustain social relationships and contribute to social cohesion. Economists have elaborated the economics of gift-giving into the notion of a gift economy. By extension, the term gift can refer to any item or act of service that makes the other happier or less sad, especially as a favor, including forgiveness and kindness. Gifts are often presented on occasions such as birthdays and holidays.

History

Gift-giving has played a central role in social and economic systems throughout human history. Anthropologist Marcel Mauss argued in The Gift (1925) that gifts in archaic societies were embedded in systems of obligation, where the act of giving, receiving, and reciprocating created enduring social bonds.Mauss, Marcel. The Gift: Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic Societies. Routledge, 1954. In many early civilizations, gifts were used for religious offerings, royal tribute, diplomatic negotiations, and public displays of generosity by elites. Over time, gift-giving evolved into a broader practice encompassing both ceremonial and personal exchanges.

= Ancient =

In Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, gifts were presented to rulers and deities as symbols of devotion or allegiance. Archaeological records and cuneiform tablets describe tributes of grain, livestock, and precious metals given as offerings or tokens of loyalty.Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, 2003.

In Ancient Greece, the institution of xenia (guest-friendship) involved ritualized gift exchanges between hosts and guests. These practices, frequently described in Homeric epics such as the Odyssey, served to strengthen social ties and demonstrate respect.Homer. The Odyssey, translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 1996.

In the Roman world, elites gave munera (public gifts or services), including gladiatorial games and food distributions, as acts of civic generosity and to enhance political reputation.Hopkins, Keith. Conquerors and Slaves. Cambridge University Press, 1978.

In Ancient China, gift-giving was guided by the Confucian ideal of li (ritual propriety). Formal exchanges of gifts—such as jade, scrolls, or tea—were common among the aristocracy and scholars and symbolized respect and social hierarchy.Li, Chenyang. The Confucian Philosophy of Harmony. Routledge, 2013.

Many ancient religious traditions also incorporated gift-giving. In the Rigveda, patrons offered cattle, gold, and horses to priests as part of ritual sacrifices.Griffith, Ralph T.H. The Hymns of the Rigveda. Evinity Publishing Inc., 2009. In Christian tradition, the Magi's presentation of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the infant Jesus is an early example of symbolic religious gift-giving, commemorated in modern Christmas customs.Matthew 2:11, Holy Bible.

= Medieval =

In the 760s, Bregowin (archbishop of Canterbury) gave a bone casket to Lul (the bishop of Mainz).{{Cite journal |last=Wilson Clay |first=John-Henry |date=2009-12-01 |title=Gift-giving and books in the letters of St Boniface and Lul |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1016/j.jmedhist.2009.08.004 |journal=Journal of Medieval History |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=313–325 |doi=10.1016/j.jmedhist.2009.08.004 |issn=0304-4181}} This was the only known instance of gift-giving between 8th-century missionaries.

Donations to monasteries in medieval Europe peaked between the 9th and 12th centuries.{{Cite journal |last=Silber |first=Ilana F. |date=1995 |title=Gift-giving in the great traditions: the case of donations to monasteries in the medieval West |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23997785 |journal=European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie / Europäisches Archiv für Soziologie |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=209–243 |doi=10.1017/S0003975600007542 |jstor=23997785 |issn=0003-9756|url-access=subscription }} Eventually, people began to explain this by claiming that monks or other holy people contributed disproportionately to a "treasure of merit".

In sixteenth and seventeenth century France, gift-giving was often patronage in disguise.{{Cite journal |last=KETTERING |first=SHARON |date=1988-06-01 |title=Gift-Giving and Patronage in Early Modern France |url=https://academic.oup.com/fh/article-abstract/2/2/131/638758?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=French History |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=131–151 |doi=10.1093/fh/2.2.131 |issn=0269-1191|url-access=subscription }}{{Rp|page=131}} This was hidden by terms like grâces, bonté, and bienveillance.{{Rp|page=137}} Sometimes actual gifts were given with patron-client letters. These often included money, hunting birds, food, and cloth,{{Rp|pages=138–139}} and occasionally messengers as well.{{Rp|page=140}}

= Modern =

Gift-giving during Christmas celebrations in the U.S. began in the early 19th century, initially in the Mid-Atlantic region.{{Cite book |last=Waits |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xn0VCgAAQBAJ&pg=PR16 |title=The Modern Christmas in America: A Cultural History of Gift Giving |date=1994 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9284-1 |language=en}}{{Rp|page=xvi}} This kind of celebration was Northern European and had its roots in Lutheran theology.{{Rp|page=xvi}} During this era, gifts were usually small and handmade.{{Rp|page=xvi}}

In the late 19th century, U.S. Christmas celebrations began to grow in scale, with more manufacturing of goods.{{Rp|page=xvii}} As early as 1880, the country's businesspeople had begun taking advantage of the holiday to sell more.{{Rp|page=xix}}

In Japan, Valentine's Day gift giving was introduced by Morozoff Ltd. in 1936,{{Cite journal |last1=Minowa |first1=Yuko |last2=Khomenko |first2=Olga |last3=Belk |first3=Russell W. |date=March 2011 |title=Social Change and Gendered Gift-Giving Rituals: A Historical Analysis of Valentine's Day in Japan |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0276146710375831 |journal=Journal of Macromarketing |language=en |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=44–56 |doi=10.1177/0276146710375831 |issn=0276-1467|url-access=subscription }} and initially targeted foreigners living near Kobe. The holiday was then reintroduced in the 1950s, but was not popular. It only became popular in the 1970s, when it was framed as a time for women to give gifts to men. To fix the gender imbalance, White Day was introduced for the men to give back to women. The typical gift on Valentine's Day in Japan is giri choko ("obligation chocolate").{{Cite web |last=Gordenker |first=Alice |date=2006-03-21 |title=White Day |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2006/03/21/reference/white-day/ |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=The Japan Times |language=en}} Typical gifts on White Day include chocolate, jewelry, and clothes.

Recent changes in gift-giving have been influenced by technology, consumer preferences, and cultural shifts. There is a growing preference for personalized, handmade, or digitally delivered gifts over traditional store-bought items. Customized gifts like hand-drawn portraits and personalized books are increasingly popular, offering more emotional and cultural significance. E-commerce has played a key role in this transformation, with online platforms providing a convenient way to order personalized and virtual gifts. The article from ScienceDaily discusses research by the University of Bath showing that personalized gifts create lasting emotional connections and boost self-esteem. The study found that recipients of personalized gifts, such as custom portraits, mugs or clothing, feel more cherished and are more likely to value and care for these items.[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/12/241218132144.htm ScienceDaily, "Personalized Gifts Foster Emotional Connections," December 2024] The emotional impact is enhanced when the thought and effort behind the personalization are communicated. Personalized gifts foster deeper relationships and contribute to sustainability. Various online platforms have contributed to this trend by offering personalized gifts like hand-drawn portraits and customized books{{Cite web |title=Custom Portraits and Personalized Books |url=https://blueberryillustrations.com/gifts}}. University gift shops, such as The Duck Store and The Harvard Shop{{Cite web |title=The Harvard Shop |url=https://shop.harvard.edu}}, have also embraced this trend, offering customized items that reflect their institutions' traditions. Additional gift types that reflect modern personalization trends include custom jewelry or accessories featuring engraved names, initials, or birthstones; personalized greeting cards or art prints; digital gifts such as NFTs or tailored online experiences like personalized video messages; handcrafted wellness products including soaps or candles with custom labels; and themed experience kits, for example, cooking kits with personalized recipes.

Presentation

In many cultures gifts are traditionally packaged in some way. For example, in Western cultures, gifts are often wrapped in wrapping paper and accompanied by a gift note which may note the occasion, the recipient's name and the giver's name. In Chinese culture, red wrapping connotes luck. Although inexpensive gifts are common among colleagues, associates and acquaintances, expensive or amorous gifts are considered more appropriate among close friends, romantic interests or relatives.{{cite book|last1=Brigham|first1=John Carl|title=Social Psychology|date=1986|page=322}}

Gift-giving occasions

File:gifts xmas.jpg]]

File:Engagement gifts basket (01).jpg gifts basket in Bangladesh.]]

File:D. Pedro recevant des mains de L imperatrice l epée du prince Eugene, son père e.b.c.jpg receives a sword as a gift from his wife Amélie. The object belonged to her father Eugène de Beauharnais, who was Viceroy of Italy and stepson of Napoleon Bonaparte.]]

Gift-giving occasions may be:

An expression of love or friendship
An expression of gratitude for a gift received.
An expression of piety, in the form of charity.
An expression of solidarity, in the form of mutual aid.
To share wealth.
To offset misfortune.
Offering travel souvenirs.
Custom, on occasions (often celebrations) such as
A birthday (the person who has his or her birthday gives cake, etc. and/or receives gifts).
A potlatch, in societies where status is associated with gift-giving rather than acquisition.
Christmas (throughout the history of Christmas gift giving, people have given one another gifts, often pretending they are left by Santa Claus, the Christ Child or Saint Nicholas).
Feast of Saint Nicholas (people give each other gifts, often supposedly receiving them from Saint Nicholas).
Easter baskets with chocolate eggs, jelly beans, and chocolate rabbits are gifts given on Easter.
Greek Orthodox Christians in Greece, will give gifts to family and friends on the Feast of Saint Basil.
Muslims give gifts to family and friends, known as Eidi, on Eid al-Fitr (the end of Ramadan) and on Eid al-Adha.
American Jews give Hanukkah gifts to family and friends.
Hindus give Diwali and Pongal gifts to family and friends. Rakhi or Raksha Bandhan is another occasion where brothers give gifts to sisters.
Buddhists give Vesak gifts to family and friends.
Gifts are given to among African American families and friends on Kwanzaa.
A wedding (the couple receives gifts and gives food and/or drinks at the wedding reception).
A wedding anniversary (each spouse receives gifts).
A funeral (visitors bring flowers, the relatives of the deceased give food and/or drinks after the ceremonial part).
A birth (the baby receives gifts, or the mother receives a gift from the father known as a push present).
Passing an examination (the student receives gifts).
Father's Day (the father receives gifts).
Mother's Day (the mother receives gifts).
Siblings Day (the sibling receives gifts)
The exchange of gifts between a guest and a host, is often a traditional practice.
Lagniappe
Retirement Gifts
Congratulations Gifts
Engagement Gifts
Housewarming party Gifts
Women's day Gifts
Valentine's Day

Promotional gifts

Promotional gifts differ from regular gifts. Recipients may include employees or clients. These gifts are primarily used for advertising. They help promote the brand name and increase its awareness. In promotional gifting, the quality and presentation of the gifts are more important than the gifts themselves, as they serve as a gateway to acquire new clients or associates. {{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

As reinforcement and manipulation

Giving a gift to someone is not necessarily just an altruistic act. It may be given in the hope that the receiver reciprocates in a particular way. It may take the form of positive reinforcement as a reward for compliance, possibly for an underhand manipulative and abusive purpose.{{Cite book|title=Who's Pulling Your Strings ? How to Break The Cycle of Manipulation |first=Harriet B.|last=Braiker |year=2004 |publisher=McGraw Hill Professional |isbn=978-0-07-144672-3}}

Unwanted gifts

Giving the appropriate gift that aligns with the recipient's preferences poses a formidable challenge. Gift givers commonly err in the process of gift selection, either by offering gifts that the recipients' do not wish to receive or by failing to provide gifts that recipients earnestly desired. For example, givers avoid giving the same gifts more than once while recipients are more open to receiving a repeated gift,{{Cite journal |last=Givi |first=Julian |date=2020-09-01 |title=(Not) giving the same old song and dance: Givers' misguided concerns about thoughtfulness and boringness keep them from repeating gifts |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296320303179 |journal=Journal of Business Research |language=en |volume=117 |pages=87–98 |doi=10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.023 |s2cid=219930823 |issn=0148-2963|url-access=subscription }} givers prefer to avoid giving self-improvement products (e.g., self-help books) as gifts while recipients are more open to receiving such gifts,{{Cite journal |last=Reshadi |first=Farnoush |date=2023-10-01 |title=Failing to give the gift of improvement: When and why givers withhold self-improvement gifts |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296323003892 |journal=Journal of Business Research |language=en |volume=165 |pages=114031 |doi=10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114031 |s2cid=258819983 |issn=0148-2963|url-access=subscription }} when choosing between giving digital and physical gift cards, givers opt for the latter more often than recipients want,{{Cite journal |last1=Reshadi |first1=Farnoush |last2=Givi |first2=Julian |last3=Das |first3=Gopal |date=May 2023 |title=Gifting digital versus physical gift cards: How and why givers and recipients have different preferences for a gift card's mode of delivery |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mar.21790 |journal=Psychology & Marketing |language=en |volume=40 |issue=5 |pages=970–978 |doi=10.1002/mar.21790 |s2cid=255635981 |issn=0742-6046|url-access=subscription }} and many receivers prefer a future experience instead of an object, or a practical gift that they have requested over a more expensive, showier gift chosen by the giver.{{Cite journal |last1=Galak |first1=Jeff |last2=Givi |first2=Julian |last3=Williams |first3=Elanor F. |date=December 2016 |title=Why Certain Gifts Are Great to Give but Not to Get: A Framework for Understanding Errors in Gift Giving |journal=Current Directions in Psychological Science |language=en |volume=25 |issue=6 |pages=380–385 |doi=10.1177/0963721416656937 |issn=0963-7214 |doi-access=free}} One cause of the mismatch between the giver's and receiver's view is that the giver is focused on the act of giving the gift, while the receiver is more interested in the long-term utilitarian value of the gift.

Due to the mismatch between givers' and recipients' gift preferences, a significant fraction of gifts are unwanted, or the giver pays more for the item than the recipient values it, resulting in a misallocation of economic resources known as a deadweight loss. Unwanted gifts are often "regifted", donated to charity, or thrown away.{{Cite news |url=https://www.vox.com/new-money/2016/12/21/14032662/christmas-gift-giving-wasteful|title=The economic case against Christmas presents |work=Vox |access-date=December 5, 2017 |date=December 21, 2016 |last=Lee |first=Timothy B. }} A gift that actually imposes a burden on the recipient, either due to maintenance or storage or disposal costs, is known as a white elephant.

One means of reducing the mismatch between the buyer and receivers' tastes is advance coordination, often undertaken in the form of a wedding registry or Christmas list. Wedding registries in particular are often kept at a single store, which can designate the exact items to be purchased (resulting in matching housewares), and to coordinate purchases so the same gift is not purchased by different guests. One study found that wedding guests who departed from the registry typically did so because they wished to signal a closer relationship to the couple by personalizing a gift, and also found that as a result of not abiding by the recipients' preferences, their gifts were appreciated less often.{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/06/24/483426485/new-study-explores-psychology-of-giving-wedding-gifts |title=New Study Explores Psychology Of Giving Wedding Gifts |last=Mendoza |first=Nohely |date=December 26, 2017 |location=Waco, Texas |newspaper= Nexstar Broadcasting }}

An estimated $3.4 billion was spent on unwanted Christmas gifts in the United States in 2017{{cite news |url=http://www.centexproud.com/news/local/biggest-return-day-of-the-year/888734842 |title=Biggest return day of the year |last=Mendoza |first=Nohely |location=Waco, Texas |access-date=September 19, 2018 |newspaper=Nexstar Broadcasting }} and $10.1 billion in 2024{{cite news|url=https://nypost.com/2024/12/20/us-news/americans-will-waste-10-1b-on-unwanted-holiday-gifts-and-53-will-get-a-disappointing-present/|title=Americans will waste $10.1B on unwanted holiday gifts — and 53% will get a disappointing present}} .The day after Christmas is typically the busiest day for returns in countries with large Christmas gift giving traditions.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/unwanted-christmas-presents-returns-busiest-day-year-working-retail-a8138181.html |title=Unwanted Christmas presents set to rise on busiest day of the year for returns |newspaper=The Independent |date=January 2, 2018 |access-date=September 19, 2018 |last=Musaddique |first=Shafi }} The total unredeemed value of gift cards purchased in the U.S. each year is estimated to be about a billion dollars.

In some cases, people know the preferences of recipients very well, and can give highly valued gifts. Some value in gift-giving comes from assisted preference discovery - people receiving gifts they did not know they would like, or which they did not know were available. Behavioral economists propose that the non-material value of gifts lies in strengthening relationships by signalling the giver was thoughtful, or spent time and effort on the gift.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/12/19/no-virginia-christmas-is-not-an-orgy-of-wealth-destruction/ |title=No, Virginia, Christmas is not an 'orgy of wealth destruction' |author=Jeff Guo |date=December 19, 2014 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

Legal aspects

At common law, for a gift to have legal effect, it was required that there be (1) intent by the donor to give a gift, and (2) delivery to the recipient of the item to be given as a gift.

In some countries, certain types of gifts above a certain monetary amount are subject to taxation. For the United States, see Gift tax in the United States.

In some contexts, gift giving can be construed as bribery. This tends to occur in situations where the gift is given with an implicit or explicit agreement between the giver of the gift and its receiver that some type of service will be rendered (often outside of normal legitimate methods) because of the gift. Some groups, such as government workers, may have strict rules concerning gift giving and receiving so as to avoid the appearance of impropriety.{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Gifts and Payments|url=https://oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/Gifts%20and%20Payments|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200915183656/https://www2.oge.gov/Web/OGE.nsf/Gifts%20and%20Payments|archive-date=September 15, 2020|access-date=September 19, 2018|website=|publisher=United States Office of Government Ethics|location=Washington, D.C.}}

Cross border monetary gifts are subject to taxation in both source and destination countries based on the treaty between the two countries.

Religious views

Lewis Hyde claims in The Gift that Christianity considers the Incarnation and subsequent death of Jesus to be the greatest gift to humankind, and that the Jataka contains a tale of the Buddha in his incarnation as the Wise Hare giving the ultimate alms by offering himself up as a meal for Sakka. (Hyde, 1983, 58–60)

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the bread and wine that are consecrated during the Divine Liturgy are referred to as "the Gifts." They are first of all the gifts of the community (both individually and corporately) to God, and then, after the epiklesis, the Gifts of the Body and Blood of Christ to the Church.

Ritual sacrifices can be seen as return gifts to a deity.