Why do men avoid wrapping Christmas presents?

LONDON, December 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Paper-phobic men rely on wives and in-store services to avoid wrapping Christmas gifts 

Men will be going out of their way to avoid wrapping presents this Christmas, relying on either their wives, partners or professional gift-wrapping services.

Ten per cent of men say they have never wrapped a present in their lives, and most find it a chore that they don't enjoy, according to a survey of 2,000 people on behalf of the sustainable gift wrap company Wrag Wrap.

Over half of women (50.3%) wrap all or most of the presents that their husbands buy as well as their own, showing just how far men are lagging behind in the festive wrapping stakes.

Of the men who do wrap presents themselves, 30% wait until the very last minute, doing it either on Christmas Eve, or even Christmas morning. This compares to just 21% of women leaving it until the last minute.

Almost half of men (48%) get some of their presents wrapped in the shops where they buy them, whereas for women this figure is just under 30%.

Men don't get a lot of satisfaction from wrapping, with 37% saying they do it as quickly as possible because they don't enjoy it. Half of men surveyed said they feel either annoyed, frustrated or intimidated by present wrapping. Less than a third of women feel that way, with 44% of women saying they don't mind how long it takes because they enjoy doing it.

As well as enjoying the process more, women are happier with the results, with 73% declaring themselves either satisfied or very satisfied with their handiwork. Just 53% of men say they are pleased with their wrapping.

Twice as many men as women say it takes them several attempts to wrap a present properly so they waste paper while they are doing it.

Psychologist and life coach Cliff Arnall said: "The evolutionary hypothesis rests on the idea of men tracking prey some distance away from their homes and being skilled, focused and successful hunters, whilst women tended to stay much closer to base preparing cooking utensils and gathering herbs for example.  The men bring the meat, the women prepare the peripherals - both are important and necessary. In terms of gift wrapping the gift is the meat, the wrapping is the peripheral.  The male perspective is all about the gift.  The female perspective is that without the carefully chosen, colour coordinated wrapping, the gift will fail to shine."

Arnall continues: "Scientifically, there may be an anatomical reason females are both good at wrapping gifts and enjoy doing so - it's called the corpus callosum. This thick band of elastic tissue connects the two halves of the brain.  It's significantly thicker in woman than men. In road terms women have the equivalent of the M4 , men on the other hand have a little rural B road. Women simply process the incoming information more quickly and efficiently."

We are, however, a nation of big present givers, with 35% expecting to wrap more than 20 presents this Christmas. Wales is the most generous part of the UK, where the average number of presents wrapped per person is 27. The North West of England came bottom, with 18 presents wrapped per person.

The West Midlands is the area of happiest wrappers, with 74% saying they feel either satisfied or very satisfied with their handiwork once a present is wrapped. East Anglia was the unhappiest, with just over half (55%) saying they are satisfied with the results.

"We know some people can find wrapping a pain," said Nicky Rajska, co-founder of Wrag Wrap. "That's why we've come up with a product that is re-usable, un-rippable and perfect for anyone who can get themselves in a tangle with throwaway wrapping paper. Not only that, but Wrag Wrap is part of the present - it shows that you really have thought of everything."

She added: "In mainland Europe, the majority of gifts are wrapped in the store where they are bought, but in the UK we have a strong tradition of personalised wrapping. Wrag Wrap has helped to evolve this tradition with a collection of gift wrap that can be used time and again and circulated within a family."

In the UK alone, five million tons of paper are sent to landfill every year, a figure added to significantly at Christmas as 75% of all wrapping paper is bought in the last quarter of the year. 

Notes for editors: 

Wrag Wrap is an innovative range of reusable gift wrap in fabric. Our aim is to provide a stylish yet ethical alternative to wrapping paper. It comes in four designs to suit different shapes and sizes of gift, all with easy-to-use draw cords and fastening buttons. Christmas prints include Berry Red, Holly Green and Mulled Spice Purple.

Wrag Wrap is made from a mixture of 45% RPET (recycled plastic bottles) and 55% polyester as well as broken, discarded Glastonbury tents, and aims to move to being 100% recycled as supply becomes more widespread.

http://www.wragwrap.com/

SOURCE Wrag Wrap