Grasping What Is Mine and Me: Psychological Ownership and the Self

Many have argued that we are what we own. If this is the case, then we should be what we feel to own, that is, what we call mine. This chapter condenses literature on the notion of psychological ownership, explains why this construct is worthy of attention and summarizes the bright and dark consequences known to follow from it. It provides a brief primer on what it takes for something to become “mine,” that is, the so-called routes to ownership and the target characteristics necessary for the facilitation of psychological ownership. Going beyond existing theorizing, it then elaborates on what makes psychological ownership distinct from other self-related constructs such as attachment, self-brand connection, or love. Essentially, it argues that psychological ownership has a distinct possessive core. While it may give rise to the blending of self and object, its core centers on a unidirectional nature with clear implications for agency. Moreover, the key notion of ownership stretches beyond the self and situates a person in a broader social context. Beyond the need or desire to grasp what is one’s own, people desire to understand what is theirs versus others’. Consequently, psychological ownership as a theoretical lens is well suited to study phenomena that connect the self with others. At a time when our connections to the rest of the world become increasingly mediated by technology, this may hold interesting implications for the study of fractional ownership, collective psychological ownership, and the possibility of feeling like being owned oneself.