When do objects become more attractive? The individual and interactive effects of choice and ownership on object evaluation.

Full Abstract

Four studies used the Implicit Association Test to explore the individual and interactive influence of perceived ownership and perceived choice on object evaluation. In Study 1, participants implicitly preferred their possessions over others' when all chosen by a third party (i.e., the ownership effect). In Study 2, participants implicitly preferred self-chosen objects over other-chosen objects when all given to the third party (i.e., the choice effect). In Study 3, the ownership effect disappeared when participants compared their self-chosen possessions with others' possessions that were chosen by the participants. In Study 4, the choice effect remained even when participants compared their self-chosen possessions with their possessions that were chosen by others. These results suggest that while the ownership effect could be attenuated by perceived choice, the choice effect is stable even under the influence of perceived ownership.

Author information

Author/s: Huang, Yunhui (Y); Wang, Lei (L); Shi, Junqi (J);

Affiliation: Peking University, Beijing, China.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Personality and social psychology bulletin (Pers Soc Psychol Bull), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Jun; vol 35 (issue 6) : pp 713-22

Dates: Created 2009/05/06; Completed 2009/06/24;

PMID: 19329495, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 6/24/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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