Let’s say it is your friend’s birthday. Should you ask her what she wants and simply buy her that present, or should you thoughtfully think of something yourself and surprise her? An article in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology suggests the first route is best. Francesca Gino and Francis Flynn conducted 5 separate studies and found that people were more pleased by gifts they explicitly requested. They were also quite pleased by gifts of cash. Givers believe that people like surprises but giftees just want what they want.