The Gift An Interdisciplinary Perspective

What moves us to give gifts to other people? The Gift brings together perspectives on gift exchange and reciprocity from different social scientific disciplines. The first part of this book contains anthropological and sociological 'classics' on gift giving and reciprocity. In the second part the focus is on social psychological theories, and on empirical research on gift giving in Western society. Finally, the main concepts underlying gift exchange - reciprocity, self-interest and altruism - are discussed. Here, the focus is on fundamental assumptions about human nature. Altruism and self-interest turn out to be much more interwoven than we are inclined to think.