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  • October 2012
  • Article
  • Psychological Science

The Gifts We Keep on Giving: Documenting and Destigmatizing the Regifting Taboo

By: Gabrielle S. Adams, Francis J. Flynn and Michael I. Norton
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:1145
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Abstract

Five studies investigate whether the practice of "regifting"-a social taboo-is as offensive to givers as regifters assume. Participants who imagined regifting thought that the original givers would be more offended than givers reported feeling, to such an extent that receivers viewed regifting as similar in offensiveness to throwing gifts away (whereas givers clearly preferred the former). This asymmetry in emotional reactions to regifting was driven by an asymmetry in beliefs about entitlement. Givers believed that the act of gift giving passed "title" to the gift on to receivers-such that receivers were free to decide what to do with the gift; in contrast, receivers believed that givers retained some "say" in how their gifts were used. Finally, an intervention designed to destigmatize regifting by introducing a different normative standard (i.e., National Regifting Day) corrected the asymmetry in beliefs about entitlement and increased regifting.

Keywords

Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Attitudes; Behavior; Research

Citation

Adams, Gabrielle S., Francis J. Flynn, and Michael I. Norton. "The Gifts We Keep on Giving: Documenting and Destigmatizing the Regifting Taboo." Psychological Science 23, no. 10 (October 2012): 1145–1150.
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About The Author

Michael I. Norton

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

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  • The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions By: Michael Norton
  • Irrationality in Action: Decision-Making Exercise By: Alison Wood Brooks, Michael I. Norton and Oliver Hauser
  • Laughter on Call: Injecting Conversational Levity By: Alison Wood Brooks, Michael Norton and F Katelynn Boland
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