Sense Of Psychological Ownership Research Articles

Psychological ownership to enhance public green space loyalty

Urban nature is increasingly acknowledged as being one of the suppliers of citizen health and well-being. However, currently, many publicly accessible green spaces (GS) remain underused. The present study (N = 232) examines the impact psychological ownership (PO) can have on GS attendance intention and attendance behavior (GS loyalty) while controlling for place attachment (PA). Contrary to previous research, PA showed no significant impact on GS loyalty, but an increase in PO was significantly and positively related to both intentional and behavioral loyalty. If PA is one of the most studied attitudinal factors in place loyalty research, results suggest that people's sense of PO has a potentially more interesting role to play when trying to enhance GS attendance, although PA should probably not be overlooked to move an individual from intention to action.

Gender roles or gendered goals? Women's return to rural family business

PurposeThis paper aims to add to the theorization of the gender dynamic in rural areas by investigating the motives of women who join their family firm (or their spouse's family firm) and thereby defy the demographic trend of rural flight. The context of this study is the depopulation of rural areas with the closing of basic services and relocation of the younger population, and educated women in particular, to urban areas. Consequently, rural family businesses risk failing to find successors and suffering forced closure or relocation. The empirical site of the study is rural family firms in Sweden, a context characterized by a high level of gender equality in legislation and culture but gender-conservative business structures in rural regions.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical case in this paper builds on a qualitative study of nine (9) life course narratives of women entrepreneurs in a rural region of Southern Sweden who have returned to rural areas to join their family business. The authors follow the view established by gender scholars that women are active agents in navigating their lives, and their life story narratives offer insight into the considerations that inform their choice to stay or return to rural locations. In Sweden, the setting for the study, gender equality is widely supported by legislation, policy and institutional frameworks and popular understanding of gender relations. In contrast to the gender-progressive policies of Sweden at large, women's entrepreneurship in rural regions of Sweden tends to follow traditional gender hierarchies and face similar constraints as in rural areas of other countries. The juxtaposition of these competing sets of ideals makes Sweden an important and interesting place to study and draw insights from the experiences of women entrepreneurs.FindingsThe findings reveal that women who choose to join rural family firms view them primarily in a positive light and see this choice as aligned with their need for professional flexibility and assertiveness, rewarding relationships, and a calm, secure, well-balanced life. Theoretically, the study implies that women choosing to engage in rural family firms seek non-material benefits, such as work–life balance and social support, and may be driven in part by a sense of psychological ownership that extends to the rural community.Originality/valueThe findings provide novel insights on women as active agents in navigating their lives and the intrinsic (e.g. alignment of personal values) and extrinsic (e.g. community support) motives that inform their decisions. The study also raises questions regarding how women perceive themselves as “fitting in” to rural settings and to what extent the sense of security within these settings that the women describe may be contingent upon factors such as their families' embeddedness within the community as well as their conformity to the local social norms.

Psychological ownership towards online brand communities driving brand engagement: a visitors’ perspective

ABSTRACT This study investigates how visitors’ sense of psychological ownership towards online brand communities (OBCs) can influence their engagement with the focal brand. The approach is anchored in the postulates of psychological ownership theory and a theoretical model is proposed. Data collected from 387 visitors to firm-created OBCs is used for empirical model validation. Data analysis reveals that a sense of self-efficacy, accountability, belongingness, and self-identity experienced by the visitors towards the community can influence their engagement with the focal brand. Visitors’ engagement with the brand further influences their intentions towards brand purchase. Perceived diversity among the visitors moderates the effect of four dimensions of psychological ownership on brand engagement.Current study pioneers the application of psychological ownership theory in understanding visitors’ brand engagement through OBCs and depicts different moderating mechanisms. The findings offer unique theoretical and managerial implications for brand building.

When they want to take away what is “ours”: Collective ownership threat and negative reactions towards refugees

People can display negative reactions towards those who challenge their sense of psychological ownership. We tested whether natives would show negativity towards refugees upon perceiving collective ownership threat (COT)—the fear of losing control over a territory that is perceived to be “ours”—in the context of mass immigration (Syrian refugees in Turkey; total N = 1,598). Correlational Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated COT to be associated with intolerance and negative reactions towards refugees through negative intergroup emotions (anger specifically). Preregistered experimental studies demonstrated that while there was no causal effect of COT in neighborhoods with relatively high refugee concentration (Study 3a), COT decreased outgroup tolerance and increased defensive reactions towards Syrian refugees via outgroup anger among a more general community sample (Study 3b). The wider intergroup implications of the fear of losing one’s sense of territorial ownership are discussed.

Who Owns What? Psychological Ownership in Shared Augmented Reality

Psychological ownership defines how we behave in and interact with the social world and the objects around us. Shared Augmented Reality (shared AR) may challenge conventional understanding of psychological ownership because virtual objects created by one user in a social place are available for other participants to see, interact with, and edit. Moreover, confusion may arise when one user attaches a virtual object in a shared AR environment onto the physical object that is owned by a different user. The goal of this study is to investigate tensions around psychological ownership in shared AR. Drawing on prior work, we developed a conceptualization of psychological ownership in shared AR in terms of five underlying dimensions: possession, control, identity, responsibility, and territoriality. We studied several shared AR scenarios through a laboratory experiment that was intended to highlight normative tensions. We divided participants into pairs, whereby one participant in each pair created the virtual object (object-creator) and placed it over the other person's (space proprietor) physical object or space. We recorded participants’ perceptions of psychological ownership along the 5 dimensions through surveys and interviews. Our results reveal that the paired participants failed to form a mutual understanding of ownership over the virtual objects. In addition, the introduction of virtual objects called into question participants’ sense of psychological ownership over the physical articles to which the virtual objects were attached. Building on our results, we offer a set of design principles for shared AR environments, intended specifically to alleviate psychological ownership-related concerns. Herein, we also discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice in this field.

Who’s in charge, in whose interest? The experience of ownership and accountability in the charity sector

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the puzzles of “ownership”, the legal and psychological commitment of directors, through the experience of the work of boards at non-profit organisations.Design/methodology/approachAn exploration of the literature on charity governance leads to a first-person reflection on the tensions in directing two common types of non-profit organisations.FindingsIn the UK as in other countries, charities are companies, bound by company law as well as regulatory constraints of the non-profit sector. This creates responsibilities of ownership without the material benefits. In contrast to corporate share ownership, a sense of psychological ownership may pre-date appointment as a director, facilitating stewardship behaviour, facilitating stewardship and accountability.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper calls for expanded empirical work on boards of non-profit organisations, giving a focused agenda of aspects to highlight the differences between charities and the corporate sector.Practical implicationsThe focus on psychological ownership can influence recruitment, induction and organisation of the work of charity boards, helping to ease resource deficits.Social implicationsWith pressure mounting in deliver of public services, the charity sector needs to fill growing gaps in provision. The constitution of boards plays a valuable role.Originality/valueBy incorporating psychological ownership in a framework of accountability, this paper points towards both a research agenda and practical considerations for charity boards.

Guarding the Exits or Fueling the Search: An Investigation into the Efficacy of Employee Guarding

Employee guarding is a downward influence strategy used by managers to maintain access to valued employees over whom they feel a sense of psychological ownership. Although research suggests that th...

How does the pedagogical design of a technology-enhanced collaborative academic course promote digital literacies, self-regulation, and perceived learning of students?

The wide expansion of digital technologies in higher education has introduced the need for an examination of the added value of various technological tools for quality teaching and active individual and collaborative learning. The current study explored whether and how the pedagogical design of an academic course, which developed a variety of digital literacy competencies, supported students in regulating collaborative technology-enhanced learning and helped them cope with the sense of psychological ownership over collaborative learning outcomes. In addition, we examined how these issues were expressed in cognitive, emotional and social aspects of students' perceived learning (Caspi & Blau, 2011). During four semesters, we conducted a qualitative analysis on reflective learning diaries, written by 78 graduate students studying education (N = 1870 codes). The bottom-up analysis focused on learning processes that enabled the development of various digital literacies conceptualized by the Digital Literacy Framework (DLF; Eshet-Alkalai, 2012): photo-visual, information, reproduction, branching, social-emotional, and real-time thinking skills. Furthermore, findings highlighted the importance of self-regulation and learning new technologies as an integral part of digital literacies. In addition, social-emotional statements expressed the development of effective communication and collaboration that enable students to cope with a sense of ownership over learning outcomes, and present different levels of teamwork: sharing, cooperation, and collaboration. Qualitative coding provided a more granulated perspective on perceived learning by differentiating between positive and negative aspects of emotional and social retrospection during the learning process. The findings contribute to educational theory by extending DLF and by providing new insights to the literature on students' perceived learning. We discuss the implications for instructional design and adoption of innovative pedagogy in higher education.

Organizational justice and knowledge sharing behavior

PurposeKnowledge sharing (KS) has been consistently acknowledged as a critical factor in the organizational development and the betterment of employees. The purpose of this paper is to extend previous empirical research on KS by testing psychological ownership as an underlying mechanism between the relationship of organizational justice (OJ) and KS behavior in developing country context. The authors also examine the moderating role of perceived organizational support (POS) between psychological ownership and KS behavior.Design/methodology/approachUsing a survey questionnaire, data from 348 employees of multinational corporations in Pakistan were used to test the research hypotheses.FindingsThe results of this research reveal that dimensions of OJ (procedural, distributive and interactional justice) positively influence psychological ownership. In addition, psychological ownership is found as an underlying psychological mechanism between the relationship of OJ and KS behavior. The results also indicate that a higher level of POS strengthens the relationship between psychological ownership and KS behavior.Practical implicationsOrganizations can enhance employees’ sense of psychological ownership by providing them fairness in procedures and resources. Moreover, management can create a perception of equality among the employees which subsequently helps employees engage in sharing their valuable knowledge with their team members and other workers in the organization.Originality/valueThis research suggests that psychological ownership and POS are important factors which influence the relationship between OJ and KS behavior and it empirically tests this model in a developing country context.

Exploring destination psychological ownership among tourists: Antecedents and outcomes

Abstract Authors explore the role of ‘destination’ as an object of individual possession. Grounded in psychological ownership theory, this study explores the role of a sense of psychological ownership towards the destinations in tourism. Data collected from 430 tourists in India through intercept survey questionnaire was analyzed through SEM. The results indicate that the tourists' identification and belongingness with the destination result in a sense of psychological ownership towards the destination. The sense of psychological ownership towards the destination positively influences the revisit intentions and intentions to recommend the focal destination. The results also reveal that the destination brand salience facilitated by the concerned tourism departments and agencies moderates the influence of destination identification and destination belongingness on destination psychological ownership. The study contributes to the existing understanding of tourism researchers by adding a relatively new theoretical background to tourist-destination relationships. The study also has specific implications for destination marketers.

Examining User Experience of Conversational Agents in Hedonic Digital Services – Antecedents and the Role of Psychological Ownership

Conversational agents (CA) that interact with users in human language have become increasingly popular over the past years. This study explores antecedents of the user experience with CAs in hedonic digital services, utilizing the example of music streaming services. Moreover, this study investigates whether a positive CA user experience increases users’ sense of psychological ownership towards the service, which in turn is supposed to positively influence users’ intention to use the service’s fee required premium version. Using structural equation modelling, the results indicate that perceived humanness and perceived personalization of the CA positively affect the user experience. The results also show that CAs can greatly benefit from higher humanness and personalization when users trust the hedonic digital service. Furthermore, psychological ownership has been identified as an underlying mechanism through which CA user experience leads to users’ premium usage intention, indicating that CAs might be valuable for hedonic digital services.

Normative Tensions in Shared Augmented Reality

Novel collaborative technologies afford new modes of behavior, which are often not regulated by established social norms. In particular, shared augmented reality (AR) - where multiple users can create, attach, and interact with the same virtual elements embedded into the physical environment - has the potential to interrupt current social norms of behavior. The objective of our study is to shed light on the ways in which shared AR challenges existing behavioral expectations. Using a simulated lab experimental design, we performed a study of users' interactions in a shared AR setting. Content analysis of participants' interviews reveals users' concerns over the preservation of their self- and social identity, as well as concerns related to personal space and the sense of psychological ownership over one's body and belongings. Our findings also point to the need for regulation of shared AR spaces and design of the technology's control mechanisms.

Prospective intervention opportunities regarding device ownership and the reduction of damage to handheld ruggedized devices with shift workers

AbstractIndustrial equipment such as ruggedized handheld computers, scanners, and label printers used within asset tracking environments are expensive to purchase and costly to repair. For organizations that use this equipment, there is value in understanding when and why damage occurs and how much of those costs are potentially associated with the employees’ own sense of psychological ownership and organizational pride. Given the connection between psychological ownership and pride, the purpose of this study was to analyze employee surveys to determine what methods, tools, or programs could reduce repair and replacement while developing a stronger sense of ownership for ruggedized devices used in material‐handling industries by shift workers. Unstructured interviews about device repair with management from a large industrial company were utilized to create a multiple‐choice, anonymous online survey (n = 353). Of the six interventions proposed, assigning the same device to the same employee every shift appeared to have the most consistent and positive response. Destruction rates and costs should be posted for employee viewing and managers of workgroups with consistently high destruction rates should receive additional training. An incentive‐based program for employees responsible for the least amount of device damage as well as an individual‐assignment of devices to employees may be considered. Applications for this student include providing a tool with which organizations can use to gauge employee ownership of equipment as well as to identify interventions that may aid in mitigating expenses associated with industrially rugged equipment.

Employee share ownership, psychological ownership, and work attitudes and behaviours: A phenomenological analysis

This study uses qualitative data to explore how employees perceive the relationships between employee share ownership (ESO) scheme participation, their attitudes and behaviours at work, and their feelings of psychological ownership (PO). We contribute to two areas of (largely quantitative) research literature. First, we advance understanding of PO by examining participants’ explanations of how they feel their sense of PO is affected by participating in a company ESO scheme. Second, we examine the role of PO in employees’ explanations of the attitudinal and behavioural changes they feel they have experienced as a consequence of participating in an ESO scheme. To explore the subjective meaning of ESO participation and its PO impact, 37 semi‐structured interviews were conducted in nine companies with participants in three tax‐advantaged ESO schemes in the United Kingdom: SIP, SAYE, and EMI. Data were coded and analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Participants perceived little effect of ESO schemes on PO or on the organizational features anticipated to give rise to these feelings. In turn, PO was found to play little or no part in employees’ explanations of how share schemes had, or did not have, an attitudinal or behavioural impact.Practitioner points Interviewees reflected on their experiences of joining employee share ownership (ESO) schemes, holding options, exercising options, and owning shares in the company. There was very little evidence that employees felt that any of these stages of ESO participation had any noticeable effect on their feelings of psychological ownership (PO). Other factors seemed to satisfy PO routes before, and possibly better than, ESO. Psychological ownership played little or no part in employees’ explanations of how the ESO scheme impacted upon their attitudes or behaviours. The findings contrast with the conventional wisdom, that participating in an ESO scheme inevitably causes employees to feel a sense of ownership over the company. We find that ESO had very little to do with ownership in the minds of employees. Instead, it was much more about investment. ESO was not seen as a mechanism for employees to have a sense of ownership over the company and employees did not appear to regard ESO as providing experiences of the three ownership rights, or the routes to PO which parallel these.

When Posting Aspirational Products in Social Media Lowers Interest in Luxury: Relationships between Self-Concept, Social Signaling, and Ownership

Consumers often use luxury products to signal their aspirational selves. In social media, consumers can publicly affiliate with such products and brands virtually without having to physically own them. This research demonstrates how social media can enable consumers to engage with aspirational products in ways that facilitate social signaling of ideal (as opposed to actual) self-concepts, and instill a sense of psychological ownership for the posted-about products. Ironically, as a consequence of this, consumers’ interest in luxury goods, indicated by wanting to purchase them or to visit high-end retailers, decreases. The authors find this with correlational data and five experiments. Further, this reduction in interest in actually owning luxury goods after posting about aspirational products in social media is found to arise only when the social media-based product affiliation is public and posting instill a strong sense of psychological ownership for the products.

Simple Design Mechanisms to Mitigate the Winner's Curse: Simultaneous Online Auctions with Rotating Bids

Bidders frequently overpay in auctions, a phenomenon termed the “Winner’s Curse.” Vickrey’s second-price auctions only lessen the winner’s curse; they do not eliminate it. Overpayment is partly due to an endowment effect; bidders develop a sense of psychological ownership toward a product, which is legitimized by the effort they expend during the auction. Perceived ownership increases their product valuation and causes the winner’s curse. Therefore, we introduce two design mechanisms – rotating bids (participants take turns in bidding, thus reducing their effort) and simultaneous auctions (participants are presented with multiple auctions simultaneously, thus reducing any anxiety over their potential failure to win) – which are proposed to attenuate the effect of participation costs on product valuation. We experimentally test the proposed mechanisms, demonstrating the role of rotating bids in moderating the effect of effort on product valuation. Implications for increasing bidder welfare by mitigating the winner’s curse with appropriate auction designs are discussed.