IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jmerit/v3y2022i1p3-50d1016317.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Empirical Examination of the Genesis of Psychological Ownership

Author

Listed:
  • Donald G. Gardner

    (Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO 80918, USA)

  • Jon L. Pierce

    (Labovitz School of Business and Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812-3002, USA)

  • Feng Lv

    (School of Business, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China)

Abstract

While there are many empirical studies of psychological ownership, there are few that examine the origins of it. Why do people develop feelings of ownership over various entities in their lives? In this investigation we empirically explore the role played by basic psychological needs as motives for the development of job-based psychological ownership. Specifically, we hypothesize that person-job fit is positively related to job-based psychological ownership through three major routes (experienced control, intimate knowing, and/or investment of the self). Further, based on extant theory but not previously studied, we hypothesized that self-identity needs and effectance motivation act as first stage moderators of these mediated relationships. Based on data from 308 employees in China, and employing a time-lagged design, we observed a significant positive relationship between person-job fit and psychological ownership through the three routes. Most of these mediated relationships were moderated by the need for self-identity and effectance motivation, such that the positive effects became stronger as the motivational needs strengthened. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Donald G. Gardner & Jon L. Pierce & Feng Lv, 2022. "An Empirical Examination of the Genesis of Psychological Ownership," Merits, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-14, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jmerit:v:3:y:2022:i:1:p:3-50:d:1016317
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8104/3/1/3/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8104/3/1/3/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gardner, Donald G., 1990. "Task complexity effects on non-task-related movements: A test of activation theory," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 209-231, April.
    2. Belk, Russell W, 1988. "Possessions and the Extended Self," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 15(2), pages 139-168, September.
    3. Walasek, Lukasz & Matthews, William J & Rakow, Tim, 2015. "The need to belong and the value of belongings: Does ostracism change the subjective value of personal possessions?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 195-204.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kamleitner, Bernadette & Dickert, Stephan, 2015. "The two faces of ownership: Introduction to the special section on ownership and economic decisions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 159-161.
    2. Thomas, Veronica L. & Yeh, Marie & Jewell, Robert D., 2015. "Enhancing valuation: the impact of self-congruence with a brand on the endowment effect," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 178-185.
    3. Kirk, Colleen P. & McSherry, Bernard & Swain, Scott D., 2015. "Investing the self: The effect of nonconscious goals on investor psychological ownership and word-of-mouth intentions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 186-194.
    4. Kim, Juran & Kang, Seungmook & Bae, Joonheui, 2022. "Human likeness and attachment effect on the perceived interactivity of AI speakers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 797-804.
    5. Shiri Melumad & Michel Tuan Pham & Darren W Dahl & Amna Kirmani & Peter R Darke, 2020. "The Smartphone as a Pacifying Technology [Diagnostic Instruments for Behavioural Addiction: An Overview]," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 47(2), pages 237-255.
    6. Leah Warfield Smith & Randall Lee Rose & Alex R. Zablah & Heath McCullough & Mohammad “Mike” Saljoughian, 2023. "Examining post-purchase consumer responses to product automation," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 530-550, May.
    7. Rosenbaum, Mark S. & Ramirez, Germán Contreras & Campbell, Jeffrey & Klaus, Philipp, 2021. "The product is me: Hyper-personalized consumer goods as unconventional luxury," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 446-454.
    8. Huang, Youlin & Qian, Lixian, 2021. "Consumer adoption of electric vehicles in alternative business models," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    9. Smith, Andrew N. & Fischer, Eileen & Yongjian, Chen, 2012. "How Does Brand-related User-generated Content Differ across YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter?," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 102-113.
    10. Chen, Zengxiang & Huang, Yunhui, 2016. "Cause-related marketing is not always less favorable than corporate philanthropy: The moderating role of self-construal," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 868-880.
    11. Cherrier, Helene & Türe, Meltem, 2020. "Value dynamics in ordinary object disposal," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 221-228.
    12. Mariek Vanden Abeele & Ralf De Wolf & Rich Ling, 2018. "Mobile Media and Social Space: How Anytime, Anyplace Connectivity Structures Everyday Life," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(2), pages 5-14.
    13. Fabio Antonialli & Rodrigo Gandia & Joel Sugano & Isabelle Nicolaï & Arthur Neto, 2019. "Business Platforms For Autonomous Vehicles Within Urban Mobility," Post-Print halshs-03687640, HAL.
    14. Abdelmajid Amine & Audrey Bonnemaizon & Margaret Josion-Portail, 2017. "Tailoring Elderly Patients’ Identities through Healthcare Service Relationships: Toward a Guardian Conception of Vulnerable Publics’ Identities," Post-Print hal-01684147, HAL.
    15. Maystre, Nicolas & Olivier, Jacques & Thoenig, Mathias & Verdier, Thierry, 2014. "Product-based cultural change: Is the village global?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 212-230.
    16. Eva Cerio & Alain Debenedetti, 2019. "From dispossession to objects' reuse: trajectories and practices in the context of clothing," Post-Print hal-02135221, HAL.
    17. Ruvio, Ayalla A. & Shoham, Aviv, 2016. "Consumer arrogance: Scale development and validation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 3989-3997.
    18. Mikko Kurenlahti & Arto O. Salonen, 2018. "Rethinking Consumerism from the Perspective of Religion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-18, July.
    19. Ahn, Suhyoung & Ellie Jin, Byoungho & Seo, Hyesim, 2024. "Why do people interact and buy in the Metaverse? Self-Expansion perspectives and the impact of hedonic adaptation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    20. F. Magnoni & Elyette Roux, 2011. "Stretching a luxury brand down: An experimental study of core brand dilution effects," Post-Print halshs-00644899, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jmerit:v:3:y:2022:i:1:p:3-50:d:1016317. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.