《外刊精读》选礼物，别踩雷

有些研究表明，大多数人只是碍于社交习俗会对收到礼物表示开心，但实际上他们并不喜欢那些礼物。新年将至，经历了这艰难的一年，我们可能特别渴望在那些收到礼物的人脸上看到绽放的喜悦。怎样准备一份心意满满的礼物？什么样的礼物是大家更想要的？一起来听今天的讲解。   英文原文  You’re Choosing a Gift. Here’s What Not to Do.  选礼物，别踩雷  By Daniel T. Willingham  On Christmas morning, a husband quietly apologizes to his wife that his gifts this year are humble — money is tight. She bravely affirms that she loves the pajamas and the sweater. Later, as the children play with their new toys, the husband reveals one last gift box, in which the wife discovers a diamond necklace. She squeals with astonished delight.  在圣诞节的早晨，丈夫悄悄地向妻子表达歉意，因为手头紧，今年的礼物很寒碜。妻子很有勇气地表示她喜欢那套睡衣和套头衫。随后，在孩子们玩着新玩具时，丈夫拿出了最后一个礼盒，妻子看到里面的钻石项链，惊喜地尖叫起来。  This advertising trope is not just cloying. It also feeds some false beliefs people commonly hold about what makes gift recipients happy.  这种广告画面不只让人腻歪，它还给人们灌输了一些如何让收礼者开心的错误信念。  First, ignore price. When researchers asked people to recall a gift they gave and then to rate how much they thought recipients liked it, higher prices went with higher ratings. But when people made the same ratings for a gift they had received, price was completely unrelated to enjoyment.  首先，别管价钱。研究人员要求人们回忆一个他们送出的礼物，然后对他们认为收礼者喜欢它的程度进行评分，发现价格越高，评分就越高。但是当人们为自己收到的礼物进行评分时，价格与愉悦程度完全无关。  Second, give gifts that are actually usable. Gift givers tend to focus on how pleasurable it would be to use the gift, but overlook how easily or often the gift will be used; a husband might imagine his wife feeling like a million bucks in her diamonds, but ignore the fact that she seldom wears formal jewelry.  其次，送实用的礼物。送礼者往往更看重使用礼物的乐趣，然而忽略了礼物的易用程度或使用频率。丈夫可能会想象戴上钻石项链的妻子感觉自己倾国倾城，但忽略了实际上她很少佩戴正式珠宝。  Third, don’t worry if your gift isn’t usable immediately. In one experiment, researchers asked people to compare different types of gifts: One was immediately appealing, like a dozen flowers in full bloom, or, for a similar price, a gift that would be more satisfying in the long term, like two dozen buds that would bloom in a few days. When people thought they would give the gift, they preferred the former, but others who were asked which they’d like to receive picked the latter.  第三，不用担心你的礼物不能被马上用起来。在一个实验中，研究人员要求人们比较不同类型的礼物：一种是能够马上吸引人的礼物，比如十几朵盛开的鲜花，另一种价格相似，但更能延长满足感，比如二十几朵在未来几天会绽放的花蕾。人们送礼物的时候，更喜欢前者，但收礼物时，会选择后者。