Many Americans struggle to find the perfect Christmas gift, especially when it comes to their loved ones.
And, this year they're not alone.
In a survey released by Best Buy, 75 percent of Americans say they are still on the lookout for their gifts, even though they started their Christmas shopping early. In fact, about 1 in 4 Americans are shopping online at work to find the perfect gift, and 17 percent said they have stayed up all night while on the hunt.
At the same time, Americans are finding it hard to shop for specific members of their family, as The Atlantic highlighted in their holiday gift guide. The publication specifically asked readers to submit their thoughts on who it's hardest to shop for.
In most cases, it's a spouse or romantic partner.
Some of the people listed in the post were "The Impossible Boyfriend," "The Wife Who Could Use a Vacation," and "The Twentysomething New Girlfriend" - showing that people have a hard time shopping for the ones they love.
It's not uncommon for couples to struggle with buying their significant other a gift, Time magazine reported. Most couples worry about getting their partner the same thing every year, or the wrong gift or something they won't like.
The search for the right gift makes people stress out about their relationships, too, Time reported.
"The more the relationship matters, the more we worry about getting it right," Karen Pine, a professor of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in Hertfordshire, England, told Time. "The more we value the other person, the more we want the gift to be an accurate reflection of the strength of our feelings towards them. And what we don't want to do is give them a gift that's a poor symbol of the importance of the relationship."
The anxiety can be seen every year. In The Washington Post's recent article "Men are so lazy," reporter Christopher Ingraham noted that men and women are Googling different gift ideas for their spouses during the holiday season at an enormous rate year after year.
"Searches for 'gift for wife' positively explode in December, peaking the week before Christmas," he wrote. "'Gift for husband' increases too, but not by nearly as much. Those numbers suggest that in the weeks before Christmas, men are more than twice as likely as women to be frantically Googling gift ideas for their spouse."
Men will even search for their wives' gifts on Christmas day, Ingraham noted.
Still, Ingraham wrote, even though men are frantically searching for their wife's gift during the Christmas season, women search for their husband's gifts more often around Valentine's Day.
"Taken as a whole, the numbers suggest that when a couple is dating, women and men experience difficulty finding Christmas gifts at similar rates," he wrote "But once they get married, wives get their act together while husbands still leave their holiday shopping to the last minute."
Luckily for those couples waiting to find the perfect gift, the Internet is packed with a variety of ideas for spouses and significant others.
The Atlantic suggests simple items, like cooking classes or something that will make their workday easier.
Similarly, Rebecca Zamon of The Huffington Post suggests some gift ideas for husbands, like leather 'house shoes,' a messenger bag or even a camp stove for those camping trips out of town.
"Buying a Christmas present for your spouse can be a tricky endeavour," Zamon wrote. "After all, the two of you have more than likely purchased anything you really need, and for those luxury items, the key question is where you'll hide it away from his prying eyes."
Like Zamon, Stephanie Walden of Mashable put together a list of gift ideas for wives with all kinds of personalities. For the wife who works at home, the gift could be something simple like a Kindle, or, for the fashionista, the gift can be a unique piece of 3-D-printed jewelry, she wrote.
And, as with any gift-giving occasion, Pinterest is littered with a number of gift ideas for your spouse, some of which you can make yourself.
