Updated December 16th, 2019 at 14:08 IST

Study discovers people who can't wrap Christmas gifts bring more joy

Study has proved that people who cannot wrap Christmas presents make people happier and compared to people who wrap gifts impeccably setting expectations higher

Reported by: Riya Baibhawi
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Recent study has proved that people who cannot wrap Christmas presents make people happier than compared to people who wrap gifts impeccably. The study found out that a badly wrapped gift sets really low expectations about the gift inside, leaving people more joyous after finding a good gift inside the wrappings. On the other hand, a perfectly wrapped present may set the expectation much higher and may lead to disappointment.

Badly wrapped presents more endearing

A study called 'Presentation Matters: The Effect of Wrapping Neatness on Gift Attitudes' asked a bunch of people about their feelings after they were presented with different wrapped gifts. The abstract of the study stated, "Specifically, recipients set higher (lower) expectations for neatly (sloppily)‐wrapped gifts, making it harder (easier) for the gifts to meet these expectations, resulting in contrast effects that lead to less (more) positive attitudes toward the gifts once unwrapped." Interestingly, researchers discovered that the badly wrapped presents were more endearing.

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The authors of the study, Jessica M. Rixom, Erick M. Mas and Brett A. Rixom, wrote that while gift‐givers typically wrap gifts prior to presenting them, little is known about the effect of how the gift is wrapped on recipients' expectations and attitudes toward the gift inside. Our study proposes that when recipients open a gift from a friend, they like it less when the giver has wrapped it neatly as opposed to sloppily and we draw on expectation disconfirmation theory to explain the effect.

Read: This Is The Reason Behind Long-followed Christmas Tradition Of Hanging Stockings

Read: Vatican Official Brings Christmas Cheer To Gaza Catholics

With Christmas around the corner, one sister decided to take sibling banter to the extreme by tying her brother's Christmas present with cables. While talking to local media, Kristy Bugden who is a retail worker from Sydney, Australia said that has taken every opportunity to 'troll' or prank her brother for years and she just couldn’t let this opportunity slip by. Her idea gathered reactions from a lot of people who were astounded by her ingenuity.

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Published December 16th, 2019 at 13:32 IST