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Picture yourself: self-focus and the endowment effect in preschool children

Hood, Bruce; Weltzien, Sandra; Marsh, Lauren; Kanngiesser, Patricia

Authors

Bruce Hood

Sandra Weltzien

Patricia Kanngiesser



Abstract

When an object comes into possession, the owner will typically think that it is worth more than it did before they owned the item in a bias known as the endowment effect. This bias is particularly robust in Western societies with independent self-construals, but has not been observed in children below 5–6 years of age. In three studies, we investigated whether endowment effect can be induced in younger children by focusing their attention on themselves. 120 children aged 3–4 years evaluated toys before and after a task where they made pictures of themselves, a friend or a neutral farm scene. Over the three studies, children consistently evaluated their own possessions, relative to other identical toys, more positively following the self-priming manipulation. Together these studies support the notion that possessions can form part of an “extended self” from early on in development and that the endowment effect may be due to an attentional self-bias framing.

Citation

Hood, B., Weltzien, S., Marsh, L., & Kanngiesser, P. (2016). Picture yourself: self-focus and the endowment effect in preschool children. Cognition, 152, 70-77. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2016.03.019

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 25, 2016
Online Publication Date Mar 29, 2016
Publication Date Jul 1, 2016
Deposit Date Feb 20, 2018
Print ISSN 0010-0277
Electronic ISSN 1873-7838
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 152
Pages 70-77
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2016.03.019
Keywords Self-focus; Ownership; Endowment effect; Extended self
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1126576
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027716300749?via%3Dihub