I like your theory and it puts into words this nagging feeling about gift-giving (material or immaterial) which I had for years.
I love making gifts to people, without expecting anything in return, but still wondered why it sometimes seemed to drive people away. That's why the "Law of Reciprocity"[0][1] never sat right with me while I experienced more personal anecdotal evidence for the reverse phenomenon [2].
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocity_(social_psychology...