This research investigates individuals' motivations to pass gifts on to other people, a practice known as re-gifting. In three studies, we develop and test a tridimensional scale of re-gifting motivations that encompasses: an individualistic motivation, whereby the re-gifter tries to maximize his/her personal utility; a detachment motivation, whereby the re-gifter seeks to preserve his or her relational distance from the re-giftee and/or the first giver; and a virtuous motivation, which captures the re-gifter's morally and socially desirable intent to benefit the re-giftee and/or preserve the material value of the gift. The individualistic and detachment motivations are stronger when the re-giftee is a distant other, whereas the virtuous motivation is stronger when the re-giftee is a close other. These results shed light on the social function of re-gifting and suggest that, despite often being stigmatized as a censurable behavior, this practice can sometimes be driven by a morally acceptable motivation. © 2016 Elsevier Inc.

Assessing individuals' re-gifting motivations

Pino G.;
2016-01-01

Abstract

This research investigates individuals' motivations to pass gifts on to other people, a practice known as re-gifting. In three studies, we develop and test a tridimensional scale of re-gifting motivations that encompasses: an individualistic motivation, whereby the re-gifter tries to maximize his/her personal utility; a detachment motivation, whereby the re-gifter seeks to preserve his or her relational distance from the re-giftee and/or the first giver; and a virtuous motivation, which captures the re-gifter's morally and socially desirable intent to benefit the re-giftee and/or preserve the material value of the gift. The individualistic and detachment motivations are stronger when the re-giftee is a distant other, whereas the virtuous motivation is stronger when the re-giftee is a close other. These results shed light on the social function of re-gifting and suggest that, despite often being stigmatized as a censurable behavior, this practice can sometimes be driven by a morally acceptable motivation. © 2016 Elsevier Inc.
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
1-s2.0-S0148296316303770-main.pdf

Solo gestori archivio

Descrizione: Article
Tipologia: PDF editoriale
Dimensione 330.9 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
330.9 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11564/711454
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 6
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 5
social impact