After witnessing the violent rage shown by babies whenever deprived of an item they considered their own, Jean Piaget, a founding father of child psychology, observed something profound about human nature. Our sense of ownership emerges incredibly early. Why are we so clingy? There's a well-established phenomenon in psychology known as the endowment effect where we value items much more highly just as soon as we own them. In one famous demonstration, students were given a choice between a coffee mug or a Swiss chocolate bar as a reward for helping out with research. Half chose the mug, and half chose the chocolate. That is, they seemed to value the two rewards similarly. Other students were given a mug first and then a surprise chance to swap it for a chocolate bar, but only 11% wanted to. Yet another group started out with chocolate, and most preferred to keep it rather than swap. In other words, the students nearly always put greater value on whichever reward they started out with. Part of this has to do with how quickly we form connections between our sense of self and the things we consider ours. That can even be seen at the neural level. In one experiment, neuroscientists scanned participants' brains while they allocated various objects either to a basket labeled "mine," or another labeled, "Alex's." When participants subsequently looked at their new things, their brains showed more activity in a region that usually flickers into life whenever we think about ourselves. Another reason we're so fond of our possessions is that from a young age we believe they have a unique essence. Psychologists showed us this by using an illusion to convince three to six-year-olds they built a copying machine, a device that could create perfect replicas of any item. When offered a choice between their favorite toy or an apparently exact copy, the majority of the children favored the original. In fact, they were often horrified at the prospect of taking home a copy. This magical thinking about objects isn't something we grow out of. Rather it persists into adulthood while becoming ever more elaborate. For example, consider the huge value placed on items that have been owned by celebrities. It's as if the buyers believed the objects they'd purchased were somehow imbued with the essence of their former celebrity owners. For similar reasons, many of us are reluctant to part with family heirlooms which help us feel connected to lost loved ones. These beliefs can even alter our perception of the physical world and change our athletic abilities. Participants in a recent study were told they were using a golf putter once owned by the champion Ben Curtis. During the experiment, they perceived the hole as being about a centimeter larger than controlled participants using a standard putter and they sank slightly more putts. Although feelings of ownership emerge early in life, culture also plays a part. For example, it was recently discovered that Hadza people of northern Tanzania who are isolated from modern culture don't exhibit the endowment effect. That's possibly because they live in an egalitarian society where almost everything is shared. At the other extreme, sometimes our attachment to our things can go too far. Part of the cause of hoarding disorder is an exaggerated sense of responsibility and protectiveness toward one's belongings. That's why people with this condition find it so difficult to throw anything away. What remains to be seen today is how the nature of our relationship with our possessions will change with the rise of digital technologies. Many have forecast the demise of physical books and music, but for now, at least, this seems premature. Perhaps there will always be something uniquely satisfying about holding an object in our hands and calling it our own.
目睹嬰兒在被奪走視為己有的物品後 哇哇大哭 兒童心理學之父尚.皮亞傑 觀察到跟人性有關的重要發現 我們的擁有慾極早便出現 為何我們那麼依戀自己的物品? 心理學上有個公認的現象 稱為稟賦效應 我們得到一件物品後 馬上就給它很高的價值 一個著名的實驗中 學生可選擇咖啡杯 或一條瑞士巧克力棒 用作協助研究的報酬 一半學生選擇咖啡杯 另一半選擇巧克力 可見學生評估獎賞的價值都是相近的 有一批學生起初獲發咖啡杯 其後有機會將咖啡杯換成巧克力棒 但只有 11% 學生希望更換獎品 而另一批學生起初獲發巧克力棒 但大多學生寧可保留巧克力棒 而不選擇更換咖啡杯 換言之,對一開始獲發的獎賞 學生幾乎都給予較高的價值 部分原因能解釋到 我們為何迅速跟視為己的物品連繫 還可從神經系統方面解釋 有個實驗,神經學家 掃描參加者的大腦 他們把物品投入寫着「我的」籃子 或「亞歷」的籃子 參加者望着新物品時 大腦會活躍起來 尤其是想起生活片段 及想到我們自己 另一原因解釋為何我們深愛自己物品 是從小就相信自己的物品有一種特質 為了證明,心理學家 告訴三至六歲孩童 他們有一個複製器 可以將所有物品 造出完美無暇的複製品 孩童要選喜愛的玩具時 他們可在原品和複製品作抉擇 大部份孩童鍾情於原來的玩具 事實上,孩童懼怕把複製品帶回家 這種奇妙的思想不會隨年齡減退 相反,這種想法到成年後 仍會持續,甚至會更複雜 譬如對名人用過的物品 會給予很高的價值 買家認為購買這些物品後 能夠擁有名人用家的特質 就如很多人都不願意放棄家傳之寶 這些物品仿佛連繫着失去的摯愛 這信念甚至改變人們 對物質世界的看法 和我們的運動能力 最近有項研究 研究員告知參加者所用的球桿 曾為高球冠軍選手本.柯蒂斯擁有 實驗期間 參加者認為球洞寬了 1 厘米 相比另一批用普通球桿的參加者 他們的入球量稍多 儘管擁有慾年幼已出現 但文化影響也為重要 例如,最近研究發現 住在坦桑尼亞北部的哈扎人 跟現代文明隔絕 沒有受稟賦效應影響 或許族人居住在奉行平等主義的社區 所有物品都是共用的 有時我們對物品的依戀太偏激 儲物症部分原因歸究於 對個人物品抱有過分的責任感 以及過分呵護 因此患者對棄置任何東西感到困難 現在所看到 個人物品與自身的關係 會隨着數碼科技的發展而改變 很多人推測印刷書 和音樂唱片將會沒落 但現在看來仍言之尚早 或許我們認為手持一件 視之為己的物品