psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

, ownership is the feeling that something is yours. Psychological ownership is distinct from legal ownership: for example, one may feel that one's cubicle at work is theirs and no one else's, even though legal ownership of the cubicle is actually conferred on the organization.

Overview

People can feel ownership about a variety of things: products, workspaces, ideas, and roles. An example of ownership is the feeling that a product that you developed is yours and no one else's. For instance, the

IKEA effect The IKEA effect is a cognitive bias in which consumers place a disproportionately high value on products they partially created. The name refers to Swedish manufacturer and furniture retailer IKEA, which sells many items of furniture that req ...

reveals that those who create a particular item value that item more than identical alternatives that they did not develop. At its core, ownership is about possession, stewardship, and the need to have control over something. Since psychological ownership can be experienced for diverse targets such as concrete objects and abstract concepts (e.g., jobs, investments, brands, ideas), the construct of ownership as a psychological phenomenon has been researched within various fields. These fields include

organizational behavior Organizational behavior (OB) or organisational behaviour is the: "study of human behavior in organizational settings, the interface between human behavior and the organization, and the organization itself".Moorhead, G., & Griffin, R. W. (1995) ...

consumer behavior Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behaviour consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes, and pr ...

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seek ...

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

, and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

Causes and Mechanisms

Why does psychological ownership prevail? The causes of psychological ownership are the following fundamental human motivations: *

Efficacy Efficacy is the ability to perform a task to a satisfactory or expected degree. The word comes from the same roots as ''effectiveness'', and it has often been used synonymously, although in pharmacology a pragmatic clinical trial#Efficacy versu ...

– Humans’ motivation to control their surroundings lead to efficacy, i.e., the ability to generate a preferred or intended outcome. They can control their environment by owning various possessions, which induces psychological ownership. *

Self-identity In the psychology of self, one's self-concept (also called self-construction, self-identity, self-perspective or self-structure) is a collection of beliefs about oneself. Generally, self-concept embodies the answer to the question ''"Who am I? ...

– The target of ownership tied to self-identity can be emblematic representations of the self. Their possessions aid people to establish their self-identity, both to themselves and to others. * Belonging – People have a motivation to possess a “home”. In order to fulfill this desire, people spend significant resources for potential targets of ownership. These targets eventually get to be a part of ourselves. How does psychological ownership emerge? Psychological ownership emerges in three ways: * Control – Having control over a target can result in psychological ownership due to enhanced feelings of self-determination and responsibility. * Intimate knowledge – The more we know something, the more likely we are to feel it belongs to us. A sense of fusion with the target of ownership occurs after intimately knowing that target. * Self-investment – By expending physical and mental energies, time, ideas, and skills in something, we begin to feel greater ownership.

Consequences

Positive outcomes

Ownership can lead to several positive outcomes: # Citizenship behavior, discretionary effort, and personal sacrifice # Experienced responsibility and stewardship

Negative outcomes

Ownership can also lead to negative outcomes, especially when that sense of ownership is challenged (either legitimately, by a higher authority asserting their ownership of an entity, or illegitimately, by a subordinate or co-equal entity usurping one's own ownership): # Feelings of personal loss # Interpersonal conflict # Unwillingness to accept advice # Resistance to change

Measuring Psychological Ownership

Since psychological ownership has been studied by multiple disciplines such as organizational behavior and consumer behavior, there are multiple scales in which the target of ownership is different (e.g., company, product). In organizational behavior, the following scale is used to measure psychological ownership: # This is MY organization. # I sense that this organization is OUR company. # I feel a very high degree of personal ownership for this organization. # I sense that this is MY company. In consumer research, the following scale or scales adapted from it are used to measure psychological ownership of products that are the target of ownership: # I feel like this is MY (target). # I feel a very high degree of personal ownership for this (target). # I feel like I own this (target).

Ownership in Organizational Settings

Ownership is distinctly related to psychological concepts such as

organizational identification Organizational identification (OI) is a term used in management studies and organizational psychology. The term refers to the propensity of a member of an organization to identify with that organization. OI has been distinguished from "affective o ...

and

organizational commitment In organizational behavior and industrial and organizational psychology, organizational commitment is an individual's psychological attachment to the organization. Organizational scientists have also developed many nuanced definitions of organiza ...

Organizational identification Organizational identification (OI) is a term used in management studies and organizational psychology. The term refers to the propensity of a member of an organization to identify with that organization. OI has been distinguished from "affective o ...

is the sense of belongingness to an organization and using the organization to define oneself. An example of

could be proudly stating for which organization you work in a casual conversation with a new acquaintance.

Organizational commitment In organizational behavior and industrial and organizational psychology, organizational commitment is an individual's psychological attachment to the organization. Organizational scientists have also developed many nuanced definitions of organiza ...

is defined as accepting the organization's goals, exerting effort, and a desire to maintain membership. An example of

could be deciding to stay at an organization despite receiving an attractive job offer from another organization. Psychological ownership answers the question, ‘What is mine?’

answers the question, ‘Who am I?’

answers the question, ‘Should I stay?’ Employee ownership is an effective managerial practice to strengthen commitment and emotional connection to the organization's vision and employee motivation at an individual level. Employee ownership can be generated through the following four factors: * Independence – Offering instances in which the workers can have leadership and control over an aspect in the organization, e.g., self-managed projects, can produce psychological ownership. * Shared information – Sharing information about the project, position, team, or organization that the employee is partaking in can increase psychological ownership. Therefore, workers gathering and knowing more information about certain aspects of the organization is essential. * Investing self and contributing to the organization – Employees often invest their time, abilities, and ideas into their jobs. Increasing the sense of personal investment can be also possible through self-managed tasks. *

Accountability Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the publ ...

– Giving employees certain responsibilities that will evoke a sense of shared burden and authority can enhance psychological ownership.

Ownership of Physical Objects

Ownership consists of the relationship between an individual and an object. This relationship can be very strong such that the individual considers their possessions as extensions of themselves. One may claim to own an object by (1) paying attention to it, (2) being in physical contact with it, (3) linking it with an experience or a memory, (4) labeling or marking it, hence, constructing a unique relationship, (5) legally owning. Furthermore, one might extend themselves to objects by creating both physical and digital collections such as books and music records.

Ownership in Personal Finances

Ownership can exist in decisions that involve financial programs and services, such as the

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

program and investments. The American Social Security Administration program was set up by

President Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

in 1935. The way it was structured was such that the workers’ contributions, exclusively, would fund it. It was a revolutionary idea at the time, since most social programs in other countries were funded by a composite of government and worker contributions. Even though the US social security system finances current retirees mainly through the contributions of the current employees, instead of what they individually contributed when they were working. These worker-only contributions were intended to install psychological ownership of benefits in workers, since each employee would be actively engaging in the program and have a sense of duty. The research has shown that their goals were met: people feel like the benefits they receive are coming from their own contributions. Similarly,

endowment effect In psychology and behavioral economics, the endowment effect (also known as divestiture aversion and related to the mere ownership effect in social psychology) is the finding that people are more likely to retain an object they own than acquire th ...

supports that investment decisions such as home purchases and stock ownership instantly increase the appraisal of that particular item. This increase in valuation is, at least partially, caused by increased psychological ownership. This effect can be seen when investors prefer to stay with the

status quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

, i.e., their current particular investment assets more than other assets and when individuals do not want to swap their current inferior bank for a superior bank.

References

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