Attitude Toward the Possession

What it measures

A six-item scale measuring the degree to which a consumer extends their sense of self through a specific possession — feeling that the object reflects who they are, experiencing personal attacks or praise vicariously through the object, and caring deeply about others' perceptions of it. Items contain blanks to be filled with the name of the focal possession. Rooted in the self-extension literature, the scale captures the psychological incorporation of an object into the self-concept across cognitive, affective, and social dimensions.

Representative items

• My _____ reminds me of who I am.
• If I lost my _____ I would feel like I lost a little of myself.
• If someone ridiculed my _____ I would feel attacked.

Citation

Melumad, Shiri and Michel Tuan Pham (2020). The smartphone as a pacifier: A psychological and physiological investigation of its effects on stressed consumers. Journal of Marketing Research, 57(2), 236–256.