The Gift Economy: How Giving Builds Trust, Loyalty, and Stronger Connections
There’s a reason that gifts are one of the love languages. Receiving a gift, especially one that’s unexpected and thoughtful, makes you feel loved and sets off excitement and joy. Giving a gift makes you feel altruistic and fulfilled. The relationship between the giver and receiver improves with a thoughtful gift, and one study showed that people are 89% more likely to say they feel connected to the giver when they’ve just opened a gift. Both people benefit emotionally from the gift, and it even releases ‘happy chemicals’ in our brains when we give and receive gifts which make us obviously feel happy but can also lower blood pressure and make us feel safe, which further builds a good trusting relationship with the gift-giver.