The_Psyhology_of_Stuff_and_Things

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a mans Self is the sum total of allthat he can call his

William James (The Principlesof Psychology, 1890)

Stuff everywhere. Bags, books,clothes, cars, toys, jewellery,furniture, iPads. If were relatively

affluent, well consider a lot of it ours.More than mere tools, luxuries or junk,our possessions become extensions of theself. We use them to signal to ourselves,and others, who we want to be and wherewe want to belong. And long after weregone, they become our legacy. Somemight even say our essence lives on inwhat once we made or owned.

Childhood and adolescenceOur relationship with stuff starts early.The idea that we can own something,possess it as if a part of ourselves, is onethat children grasp by the age of two. Andby six, they exhibit the endowment effect,placing extra value on an object simply byvirtue of it being, or having been, theirs.Although children understand ownershipfrom a very young age, they think about itin a more simplistic way than adults. Astudy by Ori Friedman and Karen Nearyin 2008 showed that aged between twoand four, kids make the assumption that

whoever is first in possession of the objectis the owner, regardless of whether theylater give it away.

With ownership comes envy. Whenyoungsters play with friends, they soon

discover other peoples toys theyd liketo get their hands on. Or they experiencethe injustice of being forced to share whatthey had assumed was theirs alone. In his1932 book The Moral Judgment of theChild, Jean Piaget observed that evenbabies express jealousy over objects,giving signs of violent rage when a toyis taken from them and given to another.When Batya Licht and her colleagues in2008 filmed 22-month-olds playing withtheir peers in day-care, nearly a quarterof all sources of conflict were overpossessions where the child eitherdefended his or her objects from anotherchild, or wanted to take an object fromanother child.

Most children have an unusually

intense relationship with a specificattachment object, usually a favouriteblanket or a soft toy. In an intriguingstudy by Bruce Hood and Paul Bloom, themajority of three- to six-year-old childrenpreferred to take home their originalattachment object, as opposed to aduplicate made by a copying machine.To the prospect of taking a copy, themost common response was horror, saysNathalia Gjersoe, who helped run thestudies. A few very sweet and obedientchildren said okay but then burst intotears. Four of the children even refusedfor their attachment toy or object to be

copied in the first place. Thats despite thefact they were happy enough to take acopy of an experimenters toy. Its as if thechildren believed their special object hada unique essence, a form of magical

thinking that re-appears in adulthoodin our treatment of heirlooms, celebritymemorabilia and artwork.

Some experts refer to childrensattachment objects as transitional objectsbecause it is believed they aid thetransition to independence. Consistentwith this, theres evidence that childrenmake less use of such objects if theirmothers practise so-called attachmentparenting, involving co-sleeping andfeeding on cue (Green et al., 2004). Thereare also cross-cultural findings showingthat fewer children have attachmentobjects in Tokyo, where children moreoften sleep in the same bed or bedroomwith their parents, than in New York,where co-sleeping is less common(Hobara, 2003).

As children mature into teens, we seepossessions starting to act as a crutch forthe self. In 2007, Lan Chaplin and hercolleagues interviewed participants agedbetween eight and 18 and found thatmaterialism (identified by choosingmaterial goods in answer to What makesme happy?) peaked at middleadolescence, just when self-esteem tendedto be lowest. In a follow-up, materialismwas reduced in teens who were givenflattering feedback from peers to boosttheir self-esteem. Giving children or

adolescents a sense of self-worth andaccomplishment seems to be quite aneffective antidote to the developmentof materialism, the researchers said (seebox Is materialism all bad?).

Through adolescence, possessionsincreasingly reflect who people are, orat least how they would like to seethemselves. In his seminal paperPossessions and the extended self RussellBelk quotes from novelist Alison Luriesbook The Language of Clothes, in whichshe observes: when adolescent girlsexchange clothing they share not onlyfriendship, but also identities they

become soulmates. Similarly, ininterviews with teens, Ruthie Segev atJerusalem College of Technology foundevidence that selecting and buying giftsfor their friends helps adolescents achieve

560 vol 26 no 8 august 2013

The psychologyof stuff and thingsChristian Jarrett on our lifelong relationship with objects

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to feel uncertain about themselvesusing false feedback on a personalityquestionnaire (telling them: the

consistency of your responses is not highenough to construct a clear picture ofwho you are), they responded by ratingtheir belongings as particularly self-expressive as saying something aboutwho they are. The same result didntapply to Asian Americans or other USparticipants with a collectivist mentality,perhaps because they are less concernedby threats to their sense of self.

In a follow-up, those participantsscoring highly in individualism (asopposed to collectivism), who wroteabout an object that reflected their self-concept, subsequently scored particularlyhigh on a measure of self-certainty. Its asif reflecting on our things restores afragile ego. The results could help explainsome of the behaviour we associatewith a mid-life crisis, such as whenthe angst-ridden fifty-somethingfinds solace in a new Porsche.A related line of research by DerekRucker and Adam Galinsky at theKellogg School of Managementshowed that participants who feltpowerless (induced by recalling atime when someone had controlover them) were more willing to pay

for a silk tie and other high-statusproducts.From a neural perspective,

this absorption of objects into self-identity may be more than meremetaphor. In 2010, Kyungmi Kimand Marcia Johnson scannedparticipants brains as they allocatedobjects to a container marked asmine, imagining that they weregoing to own them, or to a containermarked with someone elses name.Extra activity was observed in themedial prefrontal cortex (MPC) inresponse to the sight of owned

items, compared with control itemsallocated to others. The same area ofMPC was activated when participantsrated how much various adjectivesdescribed their own personality.

Areas of the brain that are known to beinvolved in thinking about the self alsoappear to be involved when we create

associations between external things andourselves through ownership, says Kim.

SignalsAs well as shoring up our sense of identity,our possessions also allow us to signalsomething about ourselves to other people.In a romantic context, theres evidence formen using the purchase of showy items known as conspicuous consumption asa display of status and availability towomen. A study led by Jill Sundie showedthis was specifically the case for meninterested in casual liaisons, and moreover,that women interested in casual sex wereattracted to these overt displays of costlyconsumption.

Conspicuous consumption can alsoconvey status and importance outsideof romantic contexts. A study at Tilburg

University showed that people wearinga luxury branded shirt (Tommy Hilfigeror Lacoste) were perceived as wealthierand higher status (than people wearinga non-branded or non-luxury shirt);more successful at getting passers-byto complete a questionnaire; more likelyto be given a job; and more successful atsoliciting money for a charity (Nelissen& Meijers, 2011). Crucially, these effectswere only present when it was clear thanthe wearer of the luxury shirt actuallyowned that shirt. Insofar as luxurydisplays advertise nothing but wealthor possession in general, the ensuingbenefits, particularly financial ones, can be considered perverse, theresearchers said.

Like a uniform, ourpossession of specific objectsand brands can also signal ourmembership of social groups,both to others and toourselves. The success of theApple brand has beenattributed in part to peoplesdesire to show that theybelong to a consumer tribewith connotations of

coolness. Increasingly itseems people will do whateverit takes, be that queuing forhours or paying premiumprices, in demonstration oftheir brand loyalty andmembership. Consumerculture theorists definitelyfind a strengthening of thephenomenon, says RobertKozinets (York University,Toronto), co-editor ofConsumer Tribes. They tendto posit, with psychologistslike Philip Cushman and

sociologists like RobertPutnam, that as people findless satisfaction andcommunity in traditionalsources like family, country


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and religion, they turn instead to alternatesources in the marketplace.

The use of possessions to convey

group membership is most obvious whenit comes to sports fans. Christian Derbaixand Alain Decrop explored this ininterviews with 30 fans from majorfootball teams across Belgium, France andSpain, some of whom owned dozens ofitems of club paraphernalia. The fansdescribed how important the wearing oftheir team colours was to their identity, asa way to gain acceptance from other fans,and to their feeling part of the community.Believe me, said an RC Lens fan, whenI say that the one who doesnt have his/herscarf looks a little bit silly ... [B]randishingthe scarf means I exhibit my club andraise it to the top Im just honouringit. For me, the scarf means everything!

Loss and disposalAs our belongings accumulate, becomingmore infused with our identities, so theirpreciousness increases. People whosethings are destroyed in a disaster aretraumatised, almost as if grieving the lossof their identities. Photographs from theaftermath of Hurricane Sandy, whichstruck the US East coast last year, showpeople standing bereft, staring in shock

and bewilderment at all theyve lost.Reflecting on the fire that took her home,Lollar says it was like a form of death.Alexandra Kovach, who also lost her homein a fire, wrote in The Washington Post in2007: It isnt just a house. Its not thecontents, or the walls, but the true feelingof that home and all that it represents.Our homes are our foundations, retainingin their walls our memories and all theexperiences that happen within them.Victims of burglaries and vandalism reportfeeling violated, the psychological impactof loss greater than the financial burden.

Yet there are many times when people

wilfully dispose of things. This oftenhappens at a key juncture, such as whenleaving student life behind, moving home,or during divorce, and can be experiencedas a chance for a new start. Old

belongings are shed like a carapace,fostering the emergence of a new identity.In the film Fight Club, the troubledcharacter Tyler Durden sees theconflagration of his flat as liberating.Its only after youve lost everything thatyoure free to do anything, he says.

Another time for a symbolic clear-out

occurs when parents throw out the babyclothes and toys belonging to theirchildren. Based on in-depth interviewswith 13 mothers, Barbara Phillips andTrina Sego distinguished between

keepers and discarders (preferring theseterms to the labels packrat, hoarder andpurger that others have used). Keepersstruggled to dispose of their childrensbelongings because of their emotionalmeaning, and they often employeddelaying tactics to keep things as long aspossible (see Hoarding). Discarders, by

contrast, felt weaker ties to theirchildrens things. Intriguingly, bothgroups experienced guilt around theirdecisions keepers because they felt acultural pressure to be organised, and

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HoardingThere are people so reluctant to dispose of their belongings that it becomes a seriousproblem. In extreme cases, mountains of clutter accumulate posing a fire hazard andmaking free movement around the home impossible. In 2011 Channel 4 told the story ofRichard Wallace, an extreme hoarder who had accumulated 60 tonnes of rubbish in hisgarden and whose kitchen was only accessible by crawling on all fours through a narrowtunnel of junk. Awareness of problematic hoarding is growing and Hoarding Disorder willbe included as a new condition in the next edition of US psychiatrys diagnostic code, DSM-5,due for publication this year.

Part of the problem with making such a diagnosis is distinguishing hoarding from benigncollecting. A British study published in 2012 compared a group of 29 people who met theproposed diagnostic criteria for hoarding disorder with 20 collectors (Nordsletten et al.,2012). Although both groups shared a reluctance to dispose of their belongings, thehoarders were less discriminate, more impulsive, and more extreme in theiraccumulations, all of which caused them problems with work and relationships. Hoarderswere also more likely to have one or more other psychiatric diagnoses and to be takingpsychiatric medication. Previous research suggests that hoarding behaviour is associatedwith a distinct way of thinking about possessions, including wanting to sustain control overthem and feeling an exaggerated sense of responsibility for them (Steketee et al., 2003).

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discarders because they felt there wasan expectation for mothers to protectand preserve their childrens identities.

Later life and beyondOlder people dont just form bonds withtheir specific belongings, they seem tohave an affection for brands from theiryouth too. Usually this manifests in ataste for music, books, films and otherentertainment from yesteryear, but thesame has been shown for fashions andhairstyles, it has been hinted at forperfumes, and in a study published in2003 by Robert Schindler and MorrisHolbrook, it was found that it alsoextends to the car.

Dozens of participants aged 16 to92 rated their preference for theappearance of 80 cars, ranging fromthe 1915 Dodge Model 30-35 to the1994 Chrysler Concorde. Among men,but not women, there was a clearpreference for cars that dated from theparticipants youth (peaking aroundage 26). This was particularly the casefor men who were more nostalgic andwho believed that things were better inthe old days. What other examples mightthere be? Children of both sexes tend tohave strong feelings about foods they

like as they grow up, says Schindler.Although we havent studied food,I would expect both men and women tohave a lifetime fondness for foods theyenjoyed during their youth.

As with human relationships, theattachments to our things deepen withthe passage of time. Elderly people areoften surrounded by possessions thathave followed them through good timesand bad, across continents and back. In2000, Linda Price at the University ofArizona and her colleagues interviewed80 older people about their decisionsregarding these special possessions.

A common theme was the way cherishedobjects come to represent particularmemories. I can look at anything [in thishouse] and remember special occasions,recalled Diane, aged 70. Its almost likea history of our life.

These possessions can be a particularcomfort for older people who have toleave their homes and enter supervisedresidential care. In interviews with 20such people in New Zealand, Jane Krogerand Vivienne Adair reported thatcherished possessions often provideda vital link to memories, relationshipsand former selves, helping foster a sense

of continuity. I love having this plate tokeep me company, one woman, aged 86,said of a ceramic plate that reminded herof her mother.

After a person dies, many of theirmost meaningful possessions becomefamily heirlooms, seen by those leftbehind as for ever containing the lost

persons essence. This idea is also seenin the behaviours that follow the deathof a celebrity. In a process that Belk callssacralisation, possessions owned bya deceased star can acquire astonishingvalue overnight, both sentimental andmonetary. This is often true even forexceedingly mundane items such asPresident Kennedys tape measure,auctioned for $48,875 in 1996. A studyby George Newman and colleagues in2011 provided a clue about the beliefsunderlying these effects. They showedthat people place more value on celebrity-owned items, the more physical contact

the celebrity had with the object, as iftheir essence somehow contaminated theitem through use. A related phenomenonis seen in consumer behaviour aftera creative star dies, with the massconsumption of their music, books orfilms or other associated items. Considerhow Steve Jobs death in 2011 wasfollowed by mass demand for tops inhis trademark black turtle-neck style.

The futureOur relationship with our stuff is in themidst of great change. Dusty music and

literary collections are being rehoused inthe digital cloud. Where once weexpressed our identity through fashionpreferences and props, today we can

cultivate an online identity with a carefullyconstructed homepage. We no longer haveto purchase an item to associate ourselveswith it, we can simply tell the world via

Twitter or Facebook about our preferences.The self has become extended, almostliterally, into technology, with Googleacting like a memory prosthetic. In short,our relationship with our things,possessions and brands remains asimportant as ever, its just the nature ofthe relationship is changing.

Researchers and people in generalare gradually adjusting. The psychologyof our stuff is becoming more inter-disciplinary, with new generationsbuilding on the established researchconducted by consumer psychologists.For her thesis completed this year at the

University of North Carolina at ChapelHill, Amber Cushing an informationscientist interviewed people aged 18to 67, finding that the youngerparticipants readily saw their digitalpossessions as extensions of themselves,much as older generations see theirphysical things.

Twenty-five years after he publishedhis seminal work on objects and theextended self, Russell Belk has composedan update: The extended self in a digitalworld, currently under review. Thepossibilities for self extensions have neverbeen so extensive, he says.


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I Dr Christian Jarrett is The Psychologistsstaff journalist. [email protected]

Older people dont just form bonds with their specific belongings, they seem to have anaffection for brands from their youth too


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