5招教你讓新年禮物變得有意義！
Holiday gift buying can feel a little empty, when all of those endless lists, long lines at the mall and dollars spent lead to a 5-minute frenzy of flying wrapping paper and ribbon. But it doesn't have to be that way. The following tips can help make gift giving more meaningful for both the giver and the recipient.
一想到自己列好巨長的購物清單、去商場排長隊再掏錢買禮物，換來的大抵不過是對方用5分鐘拆開禮物絲帶與包裝紙，買節日禮物便讓人略微感到空虛。但送禮不必都得這樣。以下的幾個小竅門能使送禮對雙方都感到更有意義。
1. Know the person
1. 瞭解收禮物的人
The most important thing in the exchanging of gifts is it shows that you really know the person well, and you really care about them. That generally means tailoring the gift to the recipient.
在交換禮物時最重要的是要讓其顯露出你真的對此人非常瞭解，以及你很關心他們。這通常意味着專門爲Ta挑選禮物。
It's also important to consider practicality. A 2014 study found that gift-giving participants focus too much on the desirability of potential gifts. Actually the recipient participants preferred the more practical option.
考慮到禮物的實用性也很重要。一項2014年的研究調查發現，在受訪者中，送禮物的一方更關注送對方想要得到的禮物。而實際上，受訪者中收禮物的一方更偏向於較實用的禮物。
Gift giving "is an expression of truly seeing the other person and knowing what they want," said Allison Pugh, a sociologist at the University of Virginia who studies consumption.
弗吉尼亞大學的社會學家阿利森·普女士主要研究消費行爲，她表示送禮這一行爲“表現出你真正地看到了對方並且瞭解他們心中所想”。
2. Donate in their name
2. 以他們的名義捐贈
Giving gifts to friends or to charity is linked to happiness. Research suggests that happier people give more to charity, and that giving more makes people happier, creating a positive feedback loop, according to a 2009 paper from Harvard Business School.
送禮給朋友或是做慈善與快樂相連。2009年哈佛商學院的一篇論文說到，研究表明心情更愉悅的人會做更多的慈善，而給予更多則能讓人們感到更開心，從而形成了積極的循環反饋。
Moreover, charity-related happiness is highest when people give in a way that fosters social connection. So, try giving to the less fortunate in someone's name this holiday season — it might give you both a holiday glow.
而且，當人們採用的給予方式能加強其社交關係時，與慈善相關的歡樂能達到最高值。因此，試着在這個節日季以他人的名義向需要援助的人贈予財富，這也許會給你們雙方都帶來節日喜悅。
3. Give handmade goods or hand-me-downs
3. 贈予手工品或傳家寶
New and store-bought is not always best. A study published in March 2015 in the Journal of Marketing found that people prefer buying homemade items for loved ones and were even willing to pay as much as 17 percent more for homemade things versus mass-produced items. The findings suggest that people feel that homemade items show more love, and love is what they want to express to the gift recipient.
在超市新買的禮物並不總是最好的。2015年3月在《營銷雜誌》上刊載的一則調查發現，人們更喜歡給喜愛的人購買手工品。並且對比於大批量生產的物品，他們甚至願意多花17%的價格來買手工物品。諸多調查表明，人們認爲手工品能展現出更多的愛，而愛不正是他們想向收禮人傳達的感情麼？
Family heirlooms may be another good gift option. A 2009 study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that when families hand down even a very depersonalized asset — money — through the generations, the symbolic value of the cash is greater than the numerical value alone.
家族代代相傳的物品也許也能成爲好的禮物。《消費者調查雜誌》2009年刊載的一項調查表明，即使家族把極不具有個人特色的資產，即錢，一代又一代地傳下去，鈔票標準性的價值比其單獨的數量價值更大。
4. Don't go overboard with anti-consumerism
4. 別在反對消費主義上太走極端
Don't panic if your kid's holiday season list looks like the entire index of the Toys R Us catalog. A little bit of commercialism can help kids make connections with their peers.
如果你孩子的假日季禮物列表看上去像玩具反斗城（全球最大的玩具及嬰幼兒用品零售商）的商品目錄，別恐慌。一點點的商業主義能幫助孩子們與同類人間建立聯繫。
"Children's stuff has a really intense social component, and by that, I mean it's almost a language that they speak with each other," said Pugh, who has studied how kids navigate consumerism.
普女士研究了兒童是怎麼對待消費主義的，她表示：“孩子們的物件有着濃郁的社交構成。我這麼說是指，那些玩具幾乎是他們彼此溝通的一種語言。”
5. Give experiences, not objects
5. 贈予經歷，而非物件
If there's a golden rule of gifts, though, it's this: Give experiences rather than items. People who receive experiential gifts, such as concert tickets or a zoo membership, feel more connected to the gift giver than people who received material items, according to researchers from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
如果送禮有黃金準則，那便是：贈予他人經歷，而非物件。當你贈予他人的禮物是讓他擁有一份經歷，像是音樂會門票或是動物園的會員，那麼相比起送實質性禮物，對方會感覺送這樣禮物的你與之建立起了更親近的聯繫，這是賓夕法尼亞大學沃頓商學院的研究員發現的。
"If gifts are about expressing and forging love, one of the best ways to do that is with your own time," Pugh said. "That will always be a really powerful gift."
普女士表示：“如果禮物是要表達並加深愛意，那麼最好的方式之一便是你親自陪伴。這總能成爲真正有力的禮物。”
