Some people have mastered the art of giving the perfect present. Even individuals who aren’t the warmest spirits the rest of the year surprise others when it comes to gifts. What makes them so adept at finding the ideal present?

Peggy Liu, an associate professor of business administration at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States, has studied the psychology of gift-giving and discovered that the best gifters have their lives in order. They’re often super-competent, organized, and seem to have “adulting” as an art form. Skilled gifters who like giving will keep track of what they gave others the previous year, if the recipients appreciated it, and have a fixed gifting formula for other people in their lives, such as their children’s teachers, colleagues, or neighbors, according to Liu. No formal research exists to determine which personality types are better at giving gifts, but Liu claims that the best gift-givers “have this sense of achievement” when purchasing and giving the perfect presents – and that these people may even regard their ability to gift well as part of who they are. Psychology professor Daniel Farrelly concurs; gifts are a clear means of developing social relationships and indicating that we want to nurture a relationship with others. This might also increase one’s pleasure in giving gifts. “The warm and nice feeling we get from giving gifts, and receiving them, is all part of our social ways,” which “motivates us to engage in gift-giving,” Farrelly adds.

Thinking about the smile on people’s faces when they receive your present may be the finest drive to improve. After all, their happiness is the fundamental reason for gift-giving in the first place.