Spent all your money on one really great gift, but think you should also get a small gift so your loved one has something else to open? Think again. New research shows that a small gift could decrease the value of the more generous one in the eyes of the recipient.

A recent study conducted at the University of Michigan revealed that adding a small parcel to a valuable gift actually made it seem like less of a gift to those who would receive it. This means that just giving someone one great gift is better than adding something small to the gift to make it seem even better.

Professor of psychology, marketing and social research Norbert Schwarz explained that, “the receiving party is averaging all the gifts together. So even though we like to think that if we keep adding more good stuff to the package it will be valued more, the little gifts actually detract from the big one.”

The study, which compared the reactions of givers and receivers using seven different experiments, also indicated that it’s likely the best way to get the most “wow” factor from a bundle of gifts is to spread the gifts over several days.

[MSNBC]

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