Date of Award
7-15-2025
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Philosophy (MPHIL)
Discipline
Social Sciences
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Prof. YEUNG Wai Lan Victoria
Abstract
Beggan (1992) introduced the mere ownership effect, suggesting that people evaluate owned objects more positively. Beggan argued that ownership fosters a psychological bond between people and their possessions, driven by self-enhancement motives (e.g., “I am good, thus my object must be good”). Yeung et al. (2017, 2020) extended the mere ownership effect, showing that ownership influences self-evaluations (e.g., I own a book so I am knowledgeable). Previous studies on the “person-based” mere ownership effect have primarily focused on East Asian participants. This thesis aims to compare cross-cultural differences, if any, in the “person-based” mere ownership effect (Study 1), and systematically explore its underlying mechanisms (Study 2).
In Study 1, we recruited 64 U.S. and 75 Chinese participants, hypothesizing that the “person-based” mere ownership effect would be more salient among Easterners than Westerners, as Easterners often require an external motivation to self-enhance (Yamagishi et al.,2012). All participants were manipulated with a self-threat related to their culturally significant ability. For instance, informing Chinese (US) participants that they lacked holistic thinking (assertiveness). In each culture, participants received either holistic oil, assertive oil, or no oil (control). Results showed that U.S. participants reported higher self-enhancement than Chinese participants. But when Chinese participants possessed the holistic oil (external motivation), they reported a comparable level of self-enhancement as their US counterparts.
Study 2 aimed to replicate and extend the findings of Study 1 by embedding cultural mindset priming within a cultural identification context. Based on prior research showing that Hong Kong participants can shift between Eastern and Western mindsets, we recruited 164 bilingual participants and randomly assigned them to either an Eastern or Western cultural mindset priming condition. As expected, participants primed with an Eastern mindset reported higher holistic efficacy than those primed with a Western mindset, even without relying on external objects. This suggests that salient cultural identification provided a culturally congruent justification for self-enhancement. However, results from the Western-primed condition were more complex. Unlike the U.S. participants in Study 1, Hong Kong participants primed with a Western mindset did not show consistently higher self-enhancement. Instead, participants primed with a Western mindset showed lower holistic efficacy than those primed with an Eastern mindset, and both mindset groups had similarly low assertive efficacy. Given the ongoing social and cultural changes in Hong Kong, previously effective priming tasks may no longer yield the same results, therefore, these findings suggest that Western mindset priming may have led to identification confusion, making it difficult for participants to adopt a clear self-enhancement strategy.
Language
English
Copyright
The copyright of this thesis is owned by its author. Any reproduction, adaptation, distribution or dissemination of this thesis without express authorization is strictly prohibited.
Recommended Citation
Gao, Y. (2025). Can mere possession of a consumer product boast your self-efficacy? A cultural perspective (Master's thesis, Lingnan University, Hong Kong). Retrieved from https://commons.ln.edu.hk/otd/255/