Young children infer feelings of ownership from habitual use.

Abstract

People sometimes feel as if they own items that do not actually belong to them. These feelings of ownership affect people in diverse contexts and provide a striking example of how feelings can conflict with reality. Across 6 experiments, we investigated young children's (N = 614) and adults' (N = 243) understanding of these feelings. In Experiment 1, children aged 4 to 7 inferred that an agent who habitually used a publicly owned item would have feelings of ownership for it, and children distinguished these feelings from actual ownership. Experiments 2 and 3 replicated these findings and also found that children were less likely to attribute feelings of ownership when the agent used the item nonhabitually. Experiments 4 and 5 further found that children and adults also distinguish feelings of ownership from false beliefs of ownership. Finally, in Experiment 6, even younger children showed signs of understanding feelings of ownership. Children aged 3 and 4 predicted that an agent who habitually used an item would be upset to discover someone else using it. Together, these findings suggest that young children are aware of the psychological component of ownership. The findings are also informative about their understanding of habits and repeated actions and the potential for feelings to conflict with beliefs, knowledge, and reality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).