Ownership (psychology)

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In psychology, ownership is the feeling that something is yours. [1] [2] [3] [4] Psychological ownership is distinct from legal ownership: [5] 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.

Contents

Overview

People can feel ownership about a variety of things: products, workspaces, ideas, and roles. [6] 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 reveals that those who create a particular item value that item more than identical alternatives that they did not develop. [7] 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 [8] and abstract concepts (e.g., jobs, [9] investments, [10] brands, [11] ideas [12] ), the construct of ownership as a psychological phenomenon has been researched within various fields. These fields include organizational behavior, [13] consumer behavior, [14] environmentalism, sustainability, [15] and public health. [16]

Causes and Mechanisms

Why does psychological ownership prevail?

The causes of psychological ownership are the following fundamental human motivations:

How does psychological ownership emerge?

Psychological ownership emerges in three ways:

Consequences

Positive outcomes

Ownership can lead to several positive outcomes:

  1. Citizenship behavior, discretionary effort, and personal sacrifice [27]
  2. Experienced responsibility and stewardship [28]

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):

  1. Feelings of personal loss [29]
  2. Interpersonal conflict [6]
  3. Unwillingness to accept advice [29]
  4. Resistance to change [30]

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). [4] [14] In organizational behavior, the following scale is used to measure psychological ownership: [4]

  1. This is MY organization.
  2. I sense that this organization is OUR company.
  3. I feel a very high degree of personal ownership for this organization.
  4. I sense that this is MY company.

In consumer research, the following scale [14] or scales adapted from it [31] [32] [33] are used to measure psychological ownership of products that are the target of ownership:

  1. I feel like this is MY (target).
  2. I feel a very high degree of personal ownership for this (target).
  3. I feel like I own this (target).

Ownership in Organizational Settings

Ownership is distinctly related to psychological concepts such as organizational identification and organizational commitment. Organizational identification is the sense of belongingness to an organization and using the organization to define oneself. [34] An example of organizational identification could be proudly stating for which organization you work in a casual conversation with a new acquaintance. Organizational commitment is defined as accepting the organization's goals, exerting effort, and a desire to maintain membership. [35] An example of organizational commitment 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?’ Organizational identification answers the question, ‘Who am I?’ Organizational commitment answers the question, ‘Should I stay?’ [1]

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. [36] Employee ownership can be generated through the following four factors: [1] [37]

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. [38] 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. [39]   Furthermore, one might extend themselves to objects by creating both physical and digital collections such as books and music records. [40] [41]

Ownership in Personal Finances

Ownership can exist in decisions that involve financial programs and services, such as the Social Security program and investments. The American Social Security Administration program was set up by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. [42] 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. [43] 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. [44] 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. [43] [45] The research has shown that their goals were met: people feel like the benefits they receive are coming from their own contributions. [46] [47]

Similarly, endowment effect supports that investment decisions such as home purchases and stock ownership instantly increase the appraisal of that particular item. [48] This increase in valuation is, at least partially, caused by increased psychological ownership. [14] [49] This effect can be seen when investors prefer to stay with the status quo, i.e., their current particular investment assets more than other assets [50] and when individuals do not want to swap their current inferior bank for a superior bank. [51]

See also

Related Research Articles

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 organizational commitment, and numerous scales to measure them. Exemplary of this work is Meyer and Allen's model of commitment, which was developed to integrate numerous definitions of commitment that had been proliferated in the literature. Meyer and Allen's model has also been critiqued because the model is not consistent with empirical findings. It may also not be fully applicable in domains such as customer behavior. There has also been debate surrounding what Meyers and Allen's model was trying to achieve.

Job satisfaction Attitude of a person towards work

Job satisfaction, employee satisfaction or work satisfaction is a measure of workers' contentedness with their job, whether they like the job or individual aspects or facets of jobs, such as nature of work or supervision. Job satisfaction can be measured in cognitive (evaluative), affective, and behavioral components. Researchers have also noted that job satisfaction measures vary in the extent to which they measure feelings about the job. or cognitions about the job.

In psychology and behavioral economics, the endowment effect is the finding that people are more likely to retain an object they own than acquire that same object when they do not own it. The endowment theory can be defined as "an application of prospect theory positing that loss aversion associated with ownership explains observed exchange asymmetries."

Goal setting involves the development of an action plan designed in order to motivate and guide a person or group toward a goal. Goals are more deliberate than desires and momentary intentions. Therefore, setting goals means that a person has committed thought, emotion, and behavior towards attaining the goal. In doing so, the goal setter has established a desired future state which differs from their current state thus creating a mismatch which in turn spurs future actions. Goal setting can be guided by goal-setting criteria such as SMART criteria. Goal setting is a major component of personal-development and management literature. Studies by Edwin A. Locke and his colleagues, most notably, have shown that more specific and ambitious goals lead to more performance improvement than easy or general goals. The goals should be specific, time constrained and difficult. Vague goals reduce limited attention resources. Unrealistically short time limits intensify the difficulty of the goal outside the intentional level and disproportionate time limits are not encouraging. Difficult goals should be set ideally at the 90th percentile of performance assuming that motivation and not ability is limiting attainment of that level of performance. As long as the person accepts the goal, has the ability to attain it, and does not have conflicting goals, there is a positive linear relationship between goal difficulty and task performance.

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". OB research can be categorized in at least three ways:

Power distance refers to the relationship between authority and subordinate individuals that depends on how the latter react to the former. It is an anthropological concept used in cultural studies to understand the relationship between individuals with varying power, the effects, and their perceptions. It uses the Power Distance Index (PDI) as a tool to measure the acceptance of power established between the individuals with the most power and those with the least. In these societies, power distance is divided into two categories that resemble a culture's power index; people in societies with a high power distance are more likely to follow a hierarchy where everybody has a place and does not require further justification, and high-ranking individuals are respected and looked up to. In societies with a low power distance, individuals aim to distribute power equally. Without regards to the same level of respect of high-power distance cultures, additional justification is often needed among those in low power distance societies. Research has also indicated that before any other relationships in a business can be established, a cross-cultural relationship must be formed first.

Affective events theory Psychological model

Affective events theory (AET) is a model developed by organizational psychologists Howard M. Weiss and Russell Cropanzano to explain how emotions and moods influence job performance and job satisfaction. The model explains the linkages between employees' internal influences and their reactions to incidents that occur in their work environment that affect their performance, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. The theory proposes that affective work behaviors are explained by employee mood and emotions, while cognitive-based behaviors are the best predictors of job satisfaction. The theory proposes that positive-inducing as well as negative-inducing emotional incidents at work are distinguishable and have a significant psychological impact upon workers' job satisfaction. This results in lasting internal and external affective reactions exhibited through job performance, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment.

Greenberg (1987) introduced the concept of organizational justice with regard to how an employee judges the behavior of the organization and the employee's resulting attitude and behaviour. For example, if a firm makes redundant half of the workers, an employee may feel a sense of injustice with a resulting change in attitude and a drop in productivity.

Emotional exhaustion Chronic state of physical and emotional depletion

Emotional exhaustion is a chronic state of physical and emotional depletion that results from excessive job, personal demands, and/or continuous stress. It describes a feeling of being emotionally overextended and exhausted by one's work. It is manifested by both physical fatigue and a sense of feeling psychologically and emotionally "drained".

Belongingness is the human emotional need to be an accepted member of a group. Whether it is family, friends, co-workers, a religion, or something else, some people tend to have an 'inherent' desire to belong and be an important part of something greater than themselves. This implies a relationship that is greater than simple acquaintance or familiarity.

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 organizational commitment". Measures of an individual's OI have been developed, based on questionnaires.

Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) is employee behavior that goes against the legitimate interests of an organization. These behaviors can harm organizations or people in organizations including employees and clients, customers, or patients. It has been proposed that a person-by-environment interaction(the relationship between a person's psychological and physical capacities and the demands placed on those capacities by the person's social and physical environment.) can be utilized to explain a variety of counterproductive behaviors. For instance, an employee who is high on trait anger is more likely to respond to a stressful incident at work with CWB.

Social undermining is the expression of negative emotions directed towards a particular person or negative evaluations of the person as a way to prevent the person from achieving their goals.

Workplace incivility has been defined as low-intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target. Uncivil behaviors are characteristically rude and discourteous, displaying a lack of regard for others. The authors hypothesize there is an "incivility spiral" in the workplace made worse by "asymmetric global interaction".

Positive psychology is defined as a method of building on what is good and what is already working instead of attempting to stimulate improvement by focusing on the weak links in an individual, a group, or in this case, a company. Implementing positive psychology in the workplace means creating an environment that is more enjoyable, productive, and values individual employees. This also means creating a work schedule that does not lead to emotional and physical distress.

Stigma management is the process of concealing or disclosing aspects of one's identity to minimize social stigma.

Psychological safety is the ability to show and employ oneself without fear of negative consequences of self-image, status, or career. It can be defined as a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking. In psychologically safe teams, team members feel accepted and respected. It is also the most studied enabling condition in group dynamics and team learning research.

Abusive supervision is most commonly studied in the context of the workplace, although it can arise in other areas such as in the household and at school. "Abusive supervision has been investigated as an antecedent to negative subordinate workplace outcome." "Workplace violence has combination of situational and personal factors". The study that was conducted looked at the link between abusive supervision and different workplace events.

Machiavellianism in the workplace is a concept studied by many organizational psychologists. Conceptualized originally by Richard Christie and Florence Geis, Machiavellianism refers to a psychological trait concept where individuals behave in a cold and duplicitous manner. It has in recent times been adapted and applied to the context of the workplace and organizations by many writers and academics.

A behavioral change can be a temporary or permanent effect that is considered a change in an individual's behavior when compared to previous behavior. It is sometimes considered a mental disorder, yet it is also a strategy used to improve such disorders. This change is generally characterized by changes in thinking, interpretations, emotions, or relationships. These changes can be either good or bad, depending on which behavior is being affected. Often, it takes much more work to change behavior for the better than it does to experience a negative change. Medications can cause this change as a side effect. The interaction between physiological processes and their effect on individual behavior is the basis of psychophysiology. Several theories exist as to why and how behavioral change can be affected, including behaviorism, Self-efficacy theory, and the stages of change model.

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