2. PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON POSSESSION
ATTACHMENT
Extension of the self (Belk, 1988)
Autonomy v. Affiliation
4 TYPES OF POSSESSION ATTACHMENT (Kleine, S. Kleine
III, R. & Allen, C. 1995) (Steketee, Frost & Kyrois, 2003)
• SOURCE OF IDENTITY
• MEMORIES
• NEED FOR CONTROL
• FEELING RESPONSIBLE
(Roster, 2015)
AFFILIATION:
• OBJECTS = RELATIONSHIPS
• MEMORIES LOST, UNIMPORTANT REALTIONSHIPS
• ALL ITEMS HAVE A STORY
• KEEP DECEASED ALIVE
AUTONOMY:
• NEED FOR FUTURE
• INFORMATION WILL BE LOST
conflicting motives (i.e. compulsive shopping)
3. POSSESSION ATTACHMENT PREDICTS CELLPHONE USE WHILE DRIVING
•NATIONAL SAMPLE, N=1006 (17-28)
•62% NOT COMFORTABLE NOT HAVING PHONE WITH THEM FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME
•56.6% FELT DETACHED FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS WITHOUT THEIR PHONE
•56% WOULD EXPERIENCE DISTRESS UPON REALIZING THEY LEFT CELLPHONE AT HOME
•40.3% CHECK THEIR PHONE EVEN WHEN THEY DID NOT HEAR IT GO OFF
•OVERALL: HIGH ATTACHMENT CORRELATED WITH HIGH RISK BEHAVIOR (I.E. TEXTING AND
DRIVING)
Weller and Shackleford (2013)
4. PRESENT STUDY
•GOAL : TO EXPLORE THE DEGREE OF OBJECT ATTACHMENT AND ITS
RELATIONSHIP TO DISPOSAL PATTERNS IN A NON-CLINICAL SAMPLE.
•PARTICIPANTS COMPLETED A ONE ON ONE INTERVIEW N=20 (M. 7, F. 13)
•INTERVIEW PROTOCOL CONTAINED 18 QUESTIONS (41 PAGES OF
TRANSCRIPTIONS)
•LINE BY LINE CODING WAS COMPLETED WITH TWO CODERS
•THEMATIC ANALYSIS USED TO COME UP FOR FINAL CODES
5. Imagine that your house is on fire.
Everyone is out of the house and safe
including any of your pets. You have
time to grab two items from anywhere
in the house.
What are they and why?
23. Note: these terms are
relevant to the
individual and simple
may mean something
much different to one
person than it does to
another
24. SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN FOR THE
GENERAL POPULATION?
•THE AVERAGE U.S. HOUSEHOLD CONTAINS 300,000 THINGS (MACVEAN, 2014)
•IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN OUR HOMES WE NEED TO HAVE A CONSTANT EQUAL FLOW IN
AND OUT (IN: 45% ONCE A MONTH OR MORE) (OUT: 25% NEVER 40% RARELY)
•INTRODUCTION OF ELECTRONICS AS SYMBOLIZING CONNECTIONS CAN CAUSE
PROBLEMS. (FIRE: 50%) (LEFT AT HOME: 50% ANXIOUS/STRESSED)
62% stressed if without for a period of time (Weller and Shackleford 2013)
25. HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE AN OLD
CELLPHONE SOMEWHERE IN YOUR
HOME JUST INCASE ?
26. HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU LEFT YOUR
CELLPHONE AT HOME FOR AN ENTIRE DAY?
•“EVENTUALLY I DON’T THINK ABOUT IT BUT DEFINITELY YOU LIKE FIRSTHAVE THE
SEPARATION ANXIETY”
•“I’D FEEL NAKED. IT’D BE A ROUGH ONE”
•“I’D PROBABLY HAVE A PANIC ATTACK”
•“PANICKED, I CAN’T GO TWO HOURS WITHOUT LOOKING AT MY PHONE, THAT’S MY
MAXIMUM AND THEN I GOT TO LOOK”
•“CUT OFF FROM THE WORLD”
•“IT’S LIKE A CONSTANT LITTLE INTERNET DEVICE THAT I CAN’T TEAR MYSELF AWAY
FROM”
27. OBJECTS ARE SENTIMENTAL
•50% OF PEOPLE WOULD KEEP THE SHIRT AND NEVER WEAR IT
•OVER HALF WOULD SAVE A SENTIMENTAL ITEM OR PHOTOS IN A FIRE
• (ROSTER, 2015) OBJECT = RELATIONSHIPS AND EVERY ITEM HAS A STORY
•OBJECT RESPONSIBILITY (CURASI, PRICE, ARNOULD, 2014)
•25% WEAR IT ONCE, 16.6% WEAR IN FRONT OF HER
•ITEM YOU CAN’T GET RID OF 40% OF PARTICIPANTS RESPONDED THAT THEY
COULD NOT GET RID OF SENTIMENTAL ITEMS
•
28. ATTACHMENT TREND
•THERE IS A TREND OF ATTACHMENT
•“I LIKE TO KEEP MY STUFF”
•“I DON’T LIKE GETTING RID OF THINGS IF I CAN HELP IT”
•FUTURE RESEARCH COULD FURTHER EXPLORE ATTACHMENT WITHIN THE GENERAL
POPULATION IN ORDER TO DEVELOP PROGRAMS TO AID IN DISPOSAL BEFORE A PERSON
DEVELOPS HOARDING TENDENCIES
•6 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR ARE SPENT ON HOARDING CASES
29. NEED FOR FUTURE
•ROSTER (2015) HOARDERS HAVE DIFFICULTY GETTING RID OF ITEMS MAY NEED IN
FUTURE
•HOW FEEL DISPOSING : 25% REPORTED NEED FOR FUTURE
•“I HAVE A REALLY LONG DEBATE WITH MYSELF, WHETHER I SHOULD OR IFI’M GOING TO
NEED IT IN THE FUTURE. BUT I KNOW I WON’T SO I STILL HOLD ON TO IT JUST IN CASE”
•“IF IT’S OUTLIVED IT’S USEFULNESS I AM OKAY WITH GETTING RID OFIT. BUT IF THERE’S
LIKE A CHANCE THAT I COULD USE IT AGAIN OR THAT IT MIGHT BE USEFUL AGAIN AT
SOME FUTURE DATE. I’LL PROBABLY KEEP IT”
•INNER MONOLOGUE
30. CONTRADICTIONS
•“I HAVE A LOT OF SHIRTS THAT I NEVER WEAR”
•LATER EXPRESSED GIVING AWAY SHIRTS DOESN’T BOTHER THEM
•NEVER GETTING RID OF ITEMS
•THEN ASKED ABOUT ITEM YOU NO LONGER USE, “GOOD, I MEAN JUST
THERE’S NOT POINT IN KEEPING IT IF I’M NOT USING IT SO WHY DON’T I
JUST GIVE IT TO SOMEONE IN NEED”
•COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
31. LIMITATIONS
•N=20 WITH A LIMITED AGE GROUP (SATURATION)
•MOST STUDENTS ARE JUST STARTING OUT AND STILL LIVE WITH
PARENTS. MANY WILL LEAVE OBJECTS HOME AND FORGET ABOUT
THEM SO THEY HAVEN’T HAD TIME TO EXPERIENCE SHOPPING AND
DISPOSAL PRACTICES IN THEIR OWN SETTING
•ONE PARTICIPANT DISPLAYED HOARDING TENDENCIES AND
COMMENTED THAT THEY HAD OCD SO IT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN A
NON-CLINICAL PARTICIPANT
32. FUTURE RESEARCH
•FUTURE RESEARCH NEEDS TO BE DONE IN:
•LARGER SAMPLE SIZES
•A LARGER RANGE OF AGE GROUPS
•INFORMATION COULD BE USED TO DETERMINE HOW STUFF
EFFECTS THEIR DAILY LIVES AND HOW PROGRAMS CAN BE
DEVELOPED TO HELP NON-CLINICAL INDIVIDUALS LIVE HAPPIER,
HEALTHIER, CLUTTER FREE LIVES
