With so much going on in our lives, keeping up with loved ones can be difficult.
The senders guessed how much the recipients would appreciate the gifts and notes.
The recipients then took part in the study themselves, revealing how much they appreciated the gestures.
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Again, the senders underestimated the appreciation of the recipients.
Elena Touroni, PhD
Connection is a basic human need.
The study also focused on the element of surprise on the recipients parts.
Why do we tend to underestimate how much other people will enjoy hearing from us?
But it could also just be because we find it hard to put ourselves in another persons shoes.
Messages can be fleeting and so its easy to forget how good we felt when we heard from someone.
Hence, simple messages and gifts appear to be received most positively.
This served an evolutionary functionbeing part of a tribe was key to our survival.
Connecting with others has been linked to lower anxiety and depression,improved self-esteem, and even immunity.
And so the need to connect is an essential component of being human.
J Pers Soc Psychol.
- doi:10.1037/pspi0000402
- Kardas M, Kumar A, Epley, N.Overly shallow?
Miscalibrated expectations create a barrier to deeper conversation.J Pers Soc Psychol.
Allen P, ed.PLoS ONE.
2017;12(10):e0186413.
