Ownership as interpersonal dominance

Rudmin, Floyd W.

Bibliographic data

Book

Document type:: Book

Collection:: POP - Possession, Ownership, Property

Title:: Ownership as interpersonal dominance: a history and three studies of the social psychology of property

Author:: Rudmin, Floyd W.

Year of publication:: 1988

Language:: English

Subject:: Besitz Eigentum Sozialpsychologie

Topic:: C - Psychology

Shelfmark:: C/R916 O9

Rights of use:: Free access

Access:: Free access

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.48671/pop.AC14489044

-f) sentiments become intimately interwoven with the sentiment of self-regard, owing to the fact that control over things, extending beyond immediate enjoyment, is essential in the ordering of life and the satisfaction of one’s own tastes. Property is thus rooted in the seif’s need for the exercise of mastery over things and the sense of freedom of enjoyment. Comparative jurisprudence teaches us that there are three original forms of acquiring property. Goods may be taken directly from nature, or they may be the product of labour or exertion, or they may be obtained by the assertion of power over other people. In all these forms of acquisition, but especially in the last, the self-assertive tendencies of man. come into play. Men come to love things because they have put their energy into them, and because they are instruments of general satisfaction, but especially because they give” them power over nature and other human beings. It is not so much the direct use of things, as the exercise of power, which gives to property its tremendous drive, and makes it one of the roots of ambition. Psychologically regarded, property arises, not from a direct need to acquire and possess, but from the interweaving of other basic interests with self-regard and self-assertion. Ethically, the function of property is to provide the material conditions of a free, secure, and purposeful life. In actual fact, most economic systems fail to achieve this object, save a few. The reasons for this failure lie deep in the history and psychology of property. As a social institution, property gives power, not only over things, but through things also over persons. (Ginsberg, 1934, pp. 192-194) Hobhouse had another somewhat indirect influence on the psychology of ownership. Raoul Naroll, one of the major figures in the development of quantificational cross-cultural methods not to come from Yale, gained his initial inspiration for cross-cultural research from Hobhouse as well (Cohen & Naroll, 1970). This present thesis was personally encouraged and supported by Naroll in the last months of life. This history of the psychology of ownership and property, though extensive, is far from complete and might be considered a preliminary work. There has been too great a reliance on secondary references. Related research in other disciplines has not been as fully explored and integrated as it might be. For example, the historical development of the institution of private property in law and material culture might have been included. Also lacking is full coverage of the psychological elements of such classic political philosophers as Rousseau, Hegel, and Marx. Even within psychology, some important themes have been omitted. For example, private property has been described as an essential element of individual autonomy and effectance (e.g. Riesman, 1968; Furby, 1980) and this finds expression at least as far back in history as Marsilius of Padua (Gewirth, 1956). Private property as a vehicle of autonomy and individual action has, of course, been considered by many political theorists to be one of the cornerstones of political freedom (Schlatter, 1951). The psychology of that relationship should not be overlooked. ~ This history has also not given a fair accounting of some of the more contemporary developments in consumer psychology (e.g. Belk, 1982; Belk & Pollay, 1985), in semantic analysis (e.g. Heider, 1958; Miller & Johnson-Laird, 1976), or In the more sociological social

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