Psychological Ownership of Borrowed Money

What it measures

The scale measures how much a person feels psychological ownership over money they've borrowed — treating it as if it were already their own rather than a debt owed to someone else. Items assess whether spending borrowed funds feels like early access to one's own resources versus spending money that isn't rightfully theirs, developed to explain why people sometimes overspend or underappreciate the cost of debt.

Response format

9-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 9=strongly agree)

Scale items

• Borrowed money feels like my money.
• Spending borrowed money feels like accessing my own money early.
• Spending borrowed money feels like spending money that’s NOT MINE to spend. (r) 3
• To what extent would this loan feel like money to be repaid versus my money to spend? feels more like money to be repaid / feels more like my money to spend
• To what extent would spending this loan feel like using borrowed money versus your money? more like borrowed money / more like my money

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Sharma, Tully, and Cryder (2021) appear to have created this scale themselves, along with several slightly reworded variants used across different studies. Reliability was acceptable to good (α = .79–.86) across versions. Discriminant validity was tested via CFA in one study, with results reported as supportive.

Citation

Sharma, E., Tully, S., & Cryder, C. (2021). Psychological Ownership of (Borrowed) Money. Journal of Marketing Research, 58(3), 497–514.

Keywords