Experiencing psychological ownership : a qualitative study

Abstract

In recent years, attention has increasingly been given to the concept of psychological ownership in the work context. Psychological ownership can be seen as the development of feelings of possessiveness towards various targets in the organisation, therefore constituting an attitude towards, for example, emotional and cognitive rudiments. Psychological ownership can be identified in terms of the three routes or categories, namely control, knowledge and investment of self. These perceptions of ownership of something, leading to feelings of psychological ownership, formed the basis of this study. The main purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth description of the experience of ownership within the workplace, especially the routes to psychological ownership, namely control; knowledge and investment of self. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted around three themes, also called the three components of psychological ownership: control; knowledge; and investment of self. The methodology applied was a phenomenological approach. The experiences and perceptions of the middle managers of control and influence over targets or objects as well as the use of targets and objects were described as they pertain to the construct of psychological ownership. In addition knowledge of targets and objects as well as the investment of ideas, energies and time into targets and objects was described in order to arrive at a rich description of the construct for the specific sample.