TY  - GEN
AU  - Beggan, James K.
SN  - 0886-1641
AU  - Beggan, James K.
LA  - eng
CN  - ENP-2bc0c83c-4680-41c9-914f-56ad9f8bd14e
TI  - Using what you own to get what you need: the role of possessions in satisfying control motivation
PY  - 1991
AB  - The present study examined the relationship between control motivation and possessive behavior. Subjects received feedback on a judgment task which induced a sense of control or a sense of lack of control. A third group of subjects received no feedback. After receiving feedback, subjects were asked to list and then rate five of their favorite possessions in terms of the amount of control the objects allowed them to have. Subjects' judgments regarding how much control their inanimate possessions afforded them varied as a function of the control feedback they received, as well as the individual difference variable locus of control (Rotter, 1966). lnternals reported that their possessions gave them more control following control deprivation relative to control satiation. In contrast, externals did not show this pattern of judgmental bias. An unexpected result involved the tendency of externals to compensate for the control feedback they received in terms of the type of possessions they listed. The results of the study are discussed in terms of symbolic selfcompletion theory (Wicklund & Gollwitzer, 1982).
ER  -