More There Than Meets Their Eyes: Support for the Mere-Ownership Effect.

Barone, Shrimp, and Sprott (this issue) attempted to replicate and extend the mere-ownership effect (Beggan, 1992), the tendency of an owner, relative to a nonowner, to enhance the perceived attractiveness of an object merely because it is owned They reported that five experiments failed to provide consistent evidence of the mere-ownership effect We suggest that Barone et al. are excessively critical of their own results and, in fact, do obtain the mere-ownership effect. Our assertion is based on a meta-analysis of their data, an important limitation of their methodology, and problems with their statistical analyses Despite the different slant we give their research findings, we recognize that Barone et al.'s efforts identify a number of issues that could serve as the basis for future research. These topics include (a) determining whether the mere-ownership effect has greater influence on certain kinds of judgments, (b) the role of dissatisfaction with a possession on judgments about the self, and (c) the role of the self in conceptualizing the gift-giving and gift-receiving process. It may also be productive to consider the practical benefits of the mere-ownership effect to society and social interaction. According to the mere-ownership effect, what people have appeals to them more than to others. Thus, the mere-ownership effect may serve to reduce envy and, therefore, reduce social conflict. The mere-ownership effect may also reduce the experience of regret (Brehm, 1966) and lead to enhanced positive affect. To the extent that positive emotions enhance decision making and problem solving (e.g., Isen & Means, 1983; Isen, Means, Patrick, & Nowicki, 1982), the mere-ownership effect may also indirectly contribute to these psychological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]