Every Christmas men struggle with the last-minute rush to find the perfect present for their partner.
　　Yet had they listened a little more closely to their wife or girlfriend in the run-up to the big day, they could have saved themselves a lot of stress.
　　Experts have identified four hinting styles that women use to try to ensure their favoured choice is placed under the Christmas tree.
　　The problem is, they found, men are oblivious to the signals – four out of five miss the hints.
　　The study broke down what it dubbed ‘adventising’. Most women (56 per cent) were found to be ‘pepper-hinters’ or ‘present pointers’. Next came ‘Chinese whisperers’ followed by ‘careless listers’.
　　But despite all these tactics, less than a third of men picked up any of the subliminal messages – compared with more than half of women.
　　The report comes as it was revealed that more than a third of us have been disappointed by our partner’s choice of presents and one in six is left upset or angry.
　　Body language expert Professor Geoff Beattie advises women to use heavy verbal tips to their partners to get what they want. He added: ‘Hinting is an important part of everyday social interaction but to do this successfully it is vital that gender differences are taken into account.
　　‘Women know what they want and are increasingly turning to “adventising” in order to get it – using clues to advertise to men what they want for Christmas.
　　‘However, their covert suggestions can at times fall on deaf ears and men are missing out on a massive two thirds of crucial hints dropped by the ladies in their life.’
　　For the study, which was commissioned by Boots, male volunteers watched a video that depicted a couple chatting in the run-up to Christmas. The film showed the various hinting styles, with most men unable to identify them.
　　Recent research by the National Autonomous University of Mexico found that women are more adept at shopping than men because they are better at recalling landmarks – helpful when trying to get back to a dress they may have seen two hours earlier.
　　每年圣诞节，直到最后一刻，男人们还会为给自己的伴侣寻找完美的礼物而烦恼。
　　其实，他们只要在这个重要的日子之前稍稍多留意一下妻子或女友的表现，就可以免去许多心理负担。
　　专家发现，女性通常会使用四种暗示方式，以确保在圣诞树下收到心仪的礼物。
　　但专家发现，问题在于男性察觉不到这些信号，五分之四的男性会忽略这些暗示。
　　该研究将其所谓的“事前广告”做了划分。研究发现，“频繁暗示型”或“礼物点名型”的女性最多（56%），其次是“口口相传型”，最后是“随意列举型”。
　　然而，尽管女性会使用上述技巧，能领会其中任何一种潜藏信息的男性还不到三分之一。相比之下，一半以上的女性能够领会这些暗示。
　　在报告发布的同时，有消息透露，我们当中超过三分之一的人对伴侣选择的礼物感到失望，有六分之一的人甚至为此而感到沮丧或生气。
　　肢体语言专家杰夫•比蒂教授建议女性向伴侣使用强烈的言语提示，以便得到自己想要的东西。他还说：“暗示是日常社交中的重要组成部分，但是要想暗示成功，很关键的一点就是要考虑到性别差异。
　　“女性知道她们想要什么，也越来越多地开始做‘事前广告’，以得到想要的东西。她们会作出一些暗示，告诉男性她们想要的圣诞礼物。
　　“但是，男性有时会对她们含蓄的建议置若罔闻。爱人向他们做出的重要暗示有三分之二都被忽略了。”
　　该研究由英国Boots连锁药店委托进行。在研究过程中，男性志愿者们按要求观看了一段视频，视频描述的是一对夫妇在圣诞节准备过程中的一段闲聊。视频展示了各种各样的暗示方式，但大多数男性志愿者都没能识别这些暗示。
　　墨西哥国立自治大学最近的一项研究发现，女性比男性擅长购物，因为她们更善于记住各种地标，这些地标能帮助她们找到两小时之前看过的一件衣服。
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