A psychological ownership approach to designing object attachment
Author(s)
Baxter, WL
Aurisicchio, M
Childs, PRN
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The mental state in which an individual claims an object as theirs is called psychological ownership. Psychological ownership is associated with motives, routes, affordances, and outcomes directly linked to attachment. This research introduces psychological ownership in the context of designing object attachment and identifies affordance principles that help facilitate it. A framework presenting the motives for and routes to psychological ownership is proposed to provide a holistic understanding of object attachment. In the framework each route to psychological ownership, that is, control, intimate knowledge, and self-investment, has a corresponding class of affordances. Overall a total of 16 affordance principles are identified through contextual inquiry with 4 objects (a car, a mobile phone, a pair of shoes, and a park bench). Previous studies have identified various elements of this framework but have fallen short of clearly defining and relating the motives, routes, and affordances to psychological ownership identified here. These affordance principles are readily mapped to experience design models and provide a practical resource for designers. Together, the framework and the affordances inform design decisions and move towards a prescriptive design method for facilitating object attachment.
Date Issued
2015-05-05
Date Acceptance
2015-03-13
Citation
Journal of Engineering Design, 2015, 26 (4-6), pp.140-156
ISSN
0954-4828
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Start Page
140
End Page
156
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Engineering Design
Volume
26
Issue
4-6
Copyright Statement
© 2015 Taylor & Francis. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Journal of Engineering Design on 05 May 2015, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09544828.2015.1030371