如果到了现在这个时候你的圣诞和新年礼物还没准备好，那么你很幸运地抓住了最后一根稻草，这篇文章将是你选购礼物的绝佳指南。什么该送，什么不该送，看完你就心里有数了。

Do: Give people gifts that they want.
必送：对方想要的礼物

A study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that gift-givers overestimate the impact of a surprise gift. In fact, the study found that people tend to appreciate getting things they specifically asked for more than unsolicited presents. Make your life easy and stick to their holiday wish list.
发表在《实验社会心理学杂志》上的一项研究发现，送礼者高估了惊喜礼物的效果。事实上，研究结果显示，相比自作主张的礼物，人们通常更喜欢收到自己指定的礼物。就按对方的愿望清单买吧，给你自己也省点事。

Do: Pick a gift card.
必送：礼品卡

Gift cards may seem like an impersonal or lazy holiday gift, but surveys have found that they’re actually a popular pick among gift recipients. A survey conducted by the National Retail Federation, for example, found that they were the most requested gift of 2015. Want to keep it even simpler? Other research has found that people are perfectly happy to receive cash as a gift.
礼品卡也许看起来像是没有人情味或是懒惰的节日礼物，然而调查发现，礼品卡其实是广受欢迎的礼物。美国零售联合会的一项调查就发现，礼品卡是2015年最多人想要的礼物。还想把送礼变得更简单吗？其他研究发现，人们收到现金作为礼物也非常开心。

所以，我们中国人过节的时候都直接发红包！

Don’t: Give gifts on their behalf.
不要：以对方的名义送出礼物

Making a charitable donation in a friend or family member’s name may seem like the perfect holiday gift: Your spending goes to a worthy cause, and the recipient gets a gift they feel good about. A 2015 study published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decisions, however, poked a hole in that theory. While close friends or family members may appreciate a socially responsible holiday gift, researchers found that casual acquaintances often feel slighted by them, potentially because the selection focuses “on the symbolic meaning of the gift,” rather than on the recipient herself.
以朋友或家人的名义做慈善捐赠也许听上去像是完美的节日礼物：你的钱捐给了有意义的事业，而收礼者也得到了让自己感觉良好的礼物。2015年发表在《组织行为与人类决定》杂志上的一项研究却对这一理论提出挑战。虽然你的家人好友也许会喜欢一份有社会责任心的节日礼物，但是研究人员发现，普通朋友在收到这种礼物时经常会觉得被轻视，潜在原因可能是这种礼物更注重“礼物的象征意义”而不是收礼者本人。

Do: Give gifts that reflect your audience—and yourself.
必送：能够反映收礼者和你本人特质的礼物

A series of studies published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology two years ago found, logically, that recipients prefer holiday gifts that reflect their own interests and hobbies. Interestingly, however, the researchers also found that “givers and receivers report greater feelings of closeness to their gift partner when the gift reflects the giver.” Sharing a favorite book, garment or keepsake with a loved one, then, may make the strongest impact in the long run.
两年前发表在《实验社会心理学杂志》上的一系列研究发现，收礼者更喜欢收到能反映出自己的兴趣爱好的节日礼物，这倒是符合逻辑。然而，有趣的是，研究人员还发现，“如果礼物能反映出送礼者的个人特质，送礼者和收礼者都会感觉彼此更亲密。”从长远来看，和亲朋好友分享最爱的书、衣服或纪念品也许影响最深。

Don’t: Splurge on something flashy.
不要：花大钱买浮华的礼物

It may feel like a faux pas to pick a holiday gift from the clearance section, but research suggests it’s the item—not the price tag—that matters most. While gift-givers tend to think their choices will land better if they’re expensive, research published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology didn’t back that up. In fact, there was no clear correlation between present price and recipient satisfaction.
从清仓甩卖区里选购节日礼物也许让人感觉很失礼，但是研究显示，真正重要的是物品本身，而不是价格。送礼者通常认为如果礼物贵重的话效果会更好，但是发表在《实验社会心理学杂志》上的研究却表明并非如此。事实上，礼物的价格和收礼者的满意度之间没有明显的关联。

Do: Give gifts that will last.
必买：能长久留下来的礼物

Everyday items, like kitchen gadgets or wardrobe staples, may not feel like slam-dunk gifts, but a study published last year in Current Directions in Psychological Science found that people actually prefer presents they can use for months and years to come, rather than something that makes a statement right when it’s unwrapped.
厨房器具或基本款衣服这样的日常用品也许听上去不像是成功率太高的礼物，但是去年发表在《心理科学最新趋势》上的一项研究发现，人们实际上更喜欢自己能经年累月使用的礼物，而不是只能享受打开那一刻的礼物。

Don’t: Dress up a bad gift.
不要：把糟糕的礼物包装得很漂亮

If you know a holiday gift is underwhelming, it may be tempting to overcompensate with big bows or fancy wrapping paper—but data from Yale’s Association for Consumer Research says that strategy may backfire. When people got a gift that they liked, the researchers found, attractive trappings slightly enhanced the experience. But when the gift itself was unsatisfactory—a science documentary, for the purposes of the study—wrapping actually worsened the recipients’ perception of the gift, likely because their expectations didn’t match reality.
如果你知道这份节日礼物不太如人意，也许你会想用华丽的包装纸把它裹起来再打上大大的蝴蝶结来提升一下。但是耶鲁大学消费者研究协会的数据显示，这种策略可能会起到反效果。研究人员发现，当人们得到自己喜欢的礼物时，漂亮的包装会让他们更快乐一点。但是如果礼物本身不令人满意（研究中选用的糟糕礼物是科学纪录片），包装实际上会让收礼者更讨厌这份礼物，可能是因为期望和现实不相符的缘故。