Agift orpresent is an item given to someone (who is not already the owner) without the expectation of payment or anything in return. Althoughgift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is intended to be free. In many countries, the act of mutually exchangingmoney,goods, etc., may sustainsocial relationships and contribute tosocial cohesion. Economists have elaborated theeconomics of gift-giving into the notion of agift economy. By extension, the termgift can refer to any item or act of service that makes the otherhappier or lesssad, especially as a favor, includingforgiveness andkindness. Gifts are often presented on occasions such asbirthdays andholidays.
Donations tomonasteries inmedieval Europe peaked between the 9th and 12th centuries.[2] Eventually, people began to explain this by claiming that monks or other holy people contributed disproportionately to a "treasure of merit".[2]
In sixteenth and seventeenth century France, gift-giving was oftenpatronage in disguise.[3]: 131 This was hidden by terms likegrâces,bonté, andbienveillance.[3]: 137 Sometimes actual gifts were given withpatron-client letters. These often included money,hunting birds, food, and cloth,[3]: 138–139 and occasionally messengers as well.[3]: 140
In the late 19th century, U.S. Christmas celebrations began to grow in scale, with more manufacturing of goods.[4]: xvii As early as 1880, the country's businesspeople had begun taking advantage of the holiday to sell more.[4]: xix
In Japan,Valentine's Day gift giving was introduced byMorozoff Ltd. in 1936,[5] and initially targeted foreigners living nearKobe.[5] The holiday was then reintroduced in the 1950s, but was not popular.[5] It only became popular in the 1970s, when it was framed as a time for women to give gifts to men.[5] To fix the gender imbalance,White Day was introduced for the men to give back to women.[5] The typical gift on Valentine's Day in Japan isgiri choko ("obligation chocolate").[6] Typical gifts on White Day include chocolate, jewelry, and clothes.[6]
In many cultures gifts are traditionallypackaged in some way. For example, inWestern cultures, gifts are often wrapped inwrapping paper and accompanied by agift note which may note the occasion, the recipient's name and the giver's name. InChinese 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.[7]
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]
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,[9] givers prefer to avoid givingself-improvement products (e.g.,self-help books) as gifts while recipients are more open to receiving such gifts,[10] when choosing between giving digital and physicalgift cards, givers opt for the latter more often than recipients want,[11] and many receivers prefer a futureexperience instead of anobject, or a practical gift that they have requested over a moreexpensive, showier gift chosen by the giver.[12] 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-termutilitarian value of the gift.[12]
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 adeadweight loss. Unwanted gifts are often "regifted", donated to charity, or thrown away.[13] A gift that actually imposes a burden on the recipient, either due to maintenance or storage or disposal costs, is known as awhite elephant.
One means of reducing the mismatch between the buyer and receivers' tastes is advance coordination, often undertaken in the form of awedding registry orChristmas 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.[14]
An estimated $3.4 billion was spent on unwanted Christmas gifts in the United States in 2017[15] and $10.1 billion in 2024[16] .The day after Christmas is typically the busiest day for returns in countries with large Christmas gift giving traditions.[15][17] The total unredeemed value ofgift cards purchased in the U.S. each year is estimated to be about a billion dollars.[13]
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.[18]
Atcommon 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, seeGift tax in the United States.
In some contexts, gift giving can be construed asbribery. 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.[19]
Cross border monetary gifts are subject to taxation in both source and destination countries based on the treaty between the two countries.
Lewis Hyde claims inThe Gift thatChristianity considers theIncarnation and subsequent death ofJesus to be the greatest gift to humankind, and that theJataka contains a tale of theBuddha in his incarnation as the Wise Hare giving the ultimatealms by offering himself up as a meal forSakka. (Hyde, 1983, 58–60)
In theEastern Orthodox Church, the bread and wine that areconsecrated during theDivine 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 theepiklesis, the Gifts of theBody andBlood ofChrist to the Church.
^"Gifts and Payments". Washington, D.C.: United States Office of Government Ethics.Archived from the original on September 15, 2020. RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018.
Jean-Luc Marion translated by Jeffrey L. Kosky, "Being Given: Toward a Phenomenology of Giveness", Stanford University Press, 2002 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, (cloth : alk. paper)ISBN0-8047-3410-0.
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