Money can buy me love: Gifts are a more effective form of acute social support than conversations

If you are having a hard day, what can someone else do to help you feel better? Maybe they could verbally comfort you or maybe they could give you a small gift. In seven studies, including an in-person real gifting study, we find that receiving a small material gift, such as a candy bar or flowers, improves receivers' affect more than a supportive conversation with a close other does. We investigate the mechanism for this effect and find that support receivers perceive a gift to be a larger sacrifice than a conversation. This occurs because gifts seem more receiver-focused (i.e., actions done solely to benefit the receiver) than do conversations. This difference in perceived sacrifice makes gifts (vs. conversations) more effective at promoting emotional recovery.

Duke Scholars

Author Tanya L. Chartrand Fuqua School of Business