Women are better at selecting gifts than men

PLoS One. 2013 Dec 26;8(12):e81643. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081643. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

There is a widespread belief that women are better at selecting gifts than men; however, this claim has not been assessed on the basis of objective criteria. The current studies do exactly that and show that women do indeed make better gift selections for others, regardless of the gender of the receiver and the type of relationship between the giver and receiver. We investigate the mediating role of different aspects of interpersonal sensitivity and reveal that differences in interpersonal interest (measured with an autism questionnaire), but not differences in interpersonal reactivity, explain gender differences in gift selection quality. The current studies thus present the first objective evidence for the claim that women are better in selecting gifts for others and also give an indication of why this is the case.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Female
  • Gift Giving*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Sex Factors

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Tilburg Institute for Behavioral Economics research (TIBER). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.