The State of Psychological Ownership: Integrating and Extending a Century of Research
Abstract
People develop feelings of ownership for a variety of objects, material and immaterial in nature. We refer to this state as psychological ownership. Building on and extending previous scholarship, the authors offer a conceptual examination of this construct. After defining psychological ownership, they address “why” it exists and “how” it comes into being. They propose that this state finds its roots in a set of intraindividual motives (efficacy and effectance, self-identity, and having a place to dwell). In addition, they discuss the experiences that give rise to psychological ownership and propose several positive and negative consequences of this state. The authors’ work provides a foundation for the development of a comprehensive theory of psychological ownership and the conceptual underpinnings for empirical testing.
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These findings verify that Pierce et al.'s theory of psychological ownership holds for AI co-writing.
“These findings also verify that Pierce et al.'s theory of psychological ownership [47] holds for AI co-writing.”
From Where Do I 'Add the Egg'?: Exploring Agency and Ownership in AI Creative Co-Writing Systems (2026) · cites this paper as Pierce et al. [47]
People have a stronger feeling of psychological ownership regarding individual-specific information because they can be directly identified by such information, and thus it is truly 'their information'.
“In the context of personalized advertising, we argue that people have a stronger feeling of psychological ownership regarding individual-specific information because they can be directly identified by such information, and thus is truly 'their information'.”
From When is personalized advertising crossing personal boundaries? How type of information, data sharing, and personalized pricing influence consumer perceptions of personalized advertising (2021) · cites this paper as Pierce, Kostova, and Dirks 2003
Our study supports the notion that boundary conditions exist when examining the acceptance of online personalization, confirming theoretical notions from psychological ownership, communication privacy management theory, and information boundary theory.
“Our study supports the notion that boundary conditions exist when examining the acceptance of online personalization, confirming theoretical notions from psychological ownership (Pierce et al., 2003), communication privacy management theory (Petronio 2012), and information boundary theory (Sutanto et al., 2013).”
From When is personalized advertising crossing personal boundaries? How type of information, data sharing, and personalized pricing influence consumer perceptions of personalized advertising (2021) · cites this paper as Pierce et al., 2003
One's investment is essential for perceived ownership.
“This indicates again that one's investment is essential for perceived ownership [83].”
From The AI Ghostwriter Effect: When Users do not Perceive Ownership of AI-Generated Text but Self-Declare as Authors (2024) · cites this paper as [83]
Pierce et al. [83] found that ownership increases with one's own subjective involvement.
“This is in line with Pierce et al. [83] who found that ownership increases with one's own subjective involvement.”
From The AI Ghostwriter Effect: When Users do not Perceive Ownership of AI-Generated Text but Self-Declare as Authors (2024) · cites this paper as Pierce et al. [83]
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References 139 · Cited by 2,038
- Authors
- Pierce, J. L., Kostova, T., & Dirks, K. T.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota, Duluth (US)
- University of South Carolina (US)
- Venue
- Review of General Psychology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2003-03
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 84-107
- ISSN
- 1089-2680 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1552
- OpenAlex
- W2057732263
- Cited by
- 2,038
- References
- 139
- Citations by year
- 2026: 208 · 2025: 208 · 2024: 175 · 2023: 175 · 2022: 189 · 2021: 169 · 2020: 158 · 2019: 98 · 2018: 114 · 2017: 93 · 2016: 77 · 2015: 79 · 2014: 53 · 2013: 58 · 2012: 57
- FWCI
- 15.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Review of General Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Place Attachment and Urban Studies
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- psychological ownership, self-identity
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