Social Influences on Dyadic Giving over Time: A Taxonomy from the Giver's Perspective: Table 1

Most gift-giving research focuses on how aspects of the giver, recipient, or their relationship impact gift exchange. This longitudinal study of the Christmas giving of five informants demonstrates that givers strategically incorporate, or allow themselves to be influenced by, third parties when selecting gifts for recipients. Moreover, givers' motivations for incorporating these influences can change over time. Thus, seemingly personal gifts to recipients actually reflect givers' relationships with others in the social network. Our taxonomy of 10 social influences on givers' behavior, as well as givers' motivations and the relational processes associated with each, broadens the scope of current gift-giving research and begins exploring how social relationships impact gift exchange.