The History and Evolution of Gift-Giving

Sociology News

The History and Evolution of Gift-Giving
Gift-GivingEvolutionHuman Behavior
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This article explores the origins and development of gift-giving as a social practice, tracing its evolution from ancient rituals to modern commercialized exchanges.

For many countries around the world, December is an intense, commercialized period of gift-giving. Not just within families but across all sorts of relationships, such as gifts between buyers and service providers. Gift-giving, the act of presenting someone with a gift is intended to convey thoughtfulness, appreciation, or goodwill. The gift can be a tangible item, experience, personal time or gesture.

It's an age-old tradition found across cultures and societies, carrying various meanings and functions that help shape human relationships. At Wits Business School in South Africa. The centre is Africa's first and only place of scholarship, teaching and research in this field. I've undertaken research developing unique mental (cognitive) abilities as part of their evolution. These governed the way humans interact with each other. Giving complemented other survival mechanisms, like instinctive 'fight or flight' response. That three types of interactive human socioeconomic behaviours evolved together: selfish, cooperative and selfless. Collectively applied, they enabled groups of hunter gatherers to survive, flourish and grow in numbers. Gifting is similar to the instinct to cooperate, but it does not necessarily imply that something is expected in return. In other words, giving gifts started as a way of sharing that showed selflessness

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