In chapter 7 of Predictably Irrational Ariely talks about the high price of ownership by conducting another experiment on unsuspecting College Students-- this time from Duke University. After a homegame sell-out for an important Duke basketball game, Ariely made a few calls to students to gage how much they believed a ticket to the game might be worth. First, he called students who were on the waiting list for tickets but didn't get them. The average price the students who didn't get tickets were willing to pay to buy tickets from another student was $170. Then Ariely called students who were on the same waiting list and did recieve tickets to the game. He asked them a similar question: what is the minimum price at which they would sell their tickets? On average, students said they wouldn't sell their game ticket for less than $2,400! Between owner and non-owner, that is difference in percieved value for the same item by a factor of 14!
Why? The main reason, as Ariely explains it, comes down to the way owners of an items value the stuff they own. A Duke student considering whether or not to sell a basketball ticket will focus on the fact that he may lose the experience of the game, the excitement, the thrill, the memories. How much is that worth?! Apperently around $2400, but only if you own the ticket. See, a buyer always focuses on what the will gain from the purchase. An owner and seller always focuses on what he'll lose. The simple fact that you own a thing makes you think the value of that thing is way
more than it's actually worth! And that is irrational! That's true for all kinds of ownership: cars, clothes, homes, anything you own. As soon as you buy it, you fall in love with it, and you form an unnatural attachment with that item that forces you to think it's worth more than it is. Ownership does that to people.
Here's the way I've seen that happen with me, personally. It's not so much about a "thing" I own as much as ideas I have. I find that I have to be careful of how much the fact that I had an idea, pitched an idea and, in a sense, "own" that idea, affects my perceived value of it. In a collaborative environment, like ministry can be, I find myself getting disappointed or discouraged sometimes when an idea that I gave isn't used or valued by someone else. I think to myself, "My idea was way better than this other one. Why didn't they use my idea?" And since I read this chapter, I've been stopping myself alot more and asking myself, "Was my idea really all that valuable, or do I just think it's valuable because I own it?" That'll get you thinking. . .
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