Have you ever bought a gift for a friend, simply because it’s a gift that you would like yourself? If so, you projected your own attitudes onto your friend, assuming your friend shared your preferences. Such activity is called ‘Social projection’ and is the focus of a marketing research from Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business.
The study, ‘I Love the product, but will you? The Role of Interpersonal Attachment Styles in Social Projection’, is based on the surveys of 1,272 people across five studies and is published in the journal ‘Psychology & Marketing’.
The research reveals that people who are secure in interpersonal settings are the ones most likely to make choices on behalf of others based on their own preferences. Conversely, those who are anxious are less likely to assume that others share their own preferences and so will hesitate to make choices for others based on their personal attitudes.
“You’d think that secure people with lots of friends and healthy personal relationships would have a better idea of what someone would like as a gift, but that’s not the case,” says study author Meredith David. “This research shows that those who are anxious in interpersonal situations and who have fewer close, personal relationships are better at predicting what a person may like.”
Emotionally secure people, explain researchers, are people who expect others to be available and supportive when needed. Those who suffer from insecurity in their relationships have less positive expectations and constantly worry about how things would work out. A securely attached person is more apt to choose a gift based on his/her own preferences. An anxious person is more apt to consider what the recipient may like, and will make a choice based less on his/her own personal preferences.
“A key takeaway is that people who have healthy relationships and feel comfortable in interpersonal settings, etc should be mindful of their propensity to assume others like what they like,” explains David. “Gifts should be thoughtful, and securely-attached folks should strive to put their own preferences aside when considering what others may like.”
Even if you love to shop, choosing the right gift can be one of the most challenging things to do. But you need to remember that gifts are all about making people feel special in the best possible way. Whatever you choose, you need to keep in mind that it’s not about the product, but more about the feeling behind it. Expensive gifts don’t always make perfect gifts. If you have extra cash to spare you can definitely buy something fancy, but if you are running low on a budget, you can always get something that fits your wallet and can be more innovative in your choice. A tiny note on a gift always makes it more personal and exciting.