Are you ready to dive into the world of building your own furniture? Imagine having a friend who’s willing to help you out. But wait, do people actually enjoy assembling furniture? It turns out there are some interesting psychological reasons behind why people might appreciate their self-built furniture more than ready-made pieces.
The IKEA Effect is a fascinating concept where people tend to value items they’ve built themselves more than those they haven’t. This doesn’t mean they enjoy the process of building, but rather, they feel a stronger attachment to the finished product. This idea was named by three psychologists in 2011, not by the company IKEA itself.
In various studies, participants who built IKEA products, LEGO sets, or even origami, often valued their creations more than those made by experts. This phenomenon isn’t new; it dates back to the 1950s when cake mixes required only water. When companies added an egg to the recipe, making it feel more like real baking, the popularity soared.
Building flat-pack furniture can be challenging. You might find yourself struggling with an allen key and screws, but there’s a sense of accomplishment when you finally complete it. This effort and time investment can lead to what’s known as the Sunk Cost Effect, where you continue investing in something because you’ve already put in so much effort.
Interestingly, the IKEA Effect also relates to child development. A study in 2018 explored how children aged 3-6 valued items they built themselves, like foam monsters, compared to those they were simply given. It showed that the sense of ownership and value for self-made items develops around ages 4 and 5.
Another related concept is the Endowment Effect, where people see their possessions as extensions of themselves. This feeling of attachment and ownership emerges during early childhood development.
After using self-assembled furniture for a while, you might not value it more than similar pre-assembled items. However, the IKEA Effect highlights how effort and ownership can influence our feelings towards objects. It’s a reminder of how our brains develop attachments and how these feelings reflect our growth and self-perception.
In the end, whether or not you enjoy building furniture, understanding these psychological effects can give you insight into why you might feel more attached to things you’ve created yourself. And if you’re looking for a fun project, maybe try building a foam monster next time!
For more laughs and insights, check out Joanna Hausmann’s channel, where she shares hilarious vlogs on race, language, culture, and more. Happy building!
Gather some simple materials like paper, cardboard, or LEGO blocks, and create a small project of your choice. As you build, think about how the effort you put into it affects your feelings towards the finished product. Reflect on whether you value it more because you made it yourself.
In groups, role-play a scenario where one person builds a piece of furniture and another buys it pre-assembled. Discuss how each person feels about their furniture and why. Consider how the IKEA Effect might influence their attachment to the item.
Think of a time when you continued with a project or activity because you had already invested time or effort into it. Share your experience with the class and discuss how the Sunk Cost Effect might have influenced your decision to keep going.
Using foam or other craft materials, design and build your own monster. Once completed, compare your feelings towards your creation with those of a pre-made toy. Discuss how the process of building it yourself might have changed your perception of its value.
Watch a video from Joanna Hausmann’s channel that discusses cultural or psychological topics. Reflect on how the concepts of the IKEA Effect and Endowment Effect might apply to other areas of life, such as cultural identity or personal achievements.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Are you ready? Am I ready to build your furniture for you? Yes! What a friend. What’s funny is you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into. [BrainCraft intro]
Wait, so you’re telling me people enjoy doing this? There are psychological reasons why people appreciate their furniture more when they’ve built it from a flat pack. So it isn’t that they enjoy building it; it’s that after they’ve built it, they love it.
Yes. Okay, so there’s this bias called the IKEA Effect – where people place a higher value on items they build themselves compared to items they did not construct. And since I’d recently ordered new furniture, I thought I’d put this IKEA Effect into practice. Would I really like the table I built more than a similar one that I didn’t? Also, I kind of wanted some help.
I thought we were going to build one thing, like a night table. Something simple. How do you build a chair? And this is Joanna Hausmann: Comedian, YouTuber, Master Builder.
So the IKEA Effect was actually named by three psychologists – recently, I’m assuming? In 2011. So not the company, at all. But it basically states that you place more value on things that you have constructed or partially assembled. In a series of studies, when participants built complete IKEA products, LEGO sets, and origami, they compared their amateurish creations to those of experts and expected others to share their opinions.
This idea of over-valuing DIY efforts goes back to the 1950s when you combined cake mix just with water – it didn’t really feel like you were cooking. As soon as companies added an egg to the recipe, popularity soared. You’re still not really baking… Oh wow.
Except there is no sweet ending to this for me. Well… These are just chairs! That are already assembled. What I love about this particular IKEA Effect is that we just had to open the box.
Do you sometimes wonder where scientists are coming from when they write these things in research papers? There was definitely one scientist who just moved and had to build a bunch of things for his apartment, and he’s like, I mean, I gotta write something! I spent four days trying to build a night table! Let’s call it: The IKEA Effect.
Now, we all know that building flat pack furniture isn’t always straightforward. Okay, step one: take an allen key and put a screw in the hole. Oh, we can do that. Oh my goodness, I want to cry! This is so hard!
Hey! I’m here to guide you through it. Yep, I got this. Oh, look at that! Look at this! I already feel like I accomplished something today. And this extra time and energy often leads to more time and energy.
There’s one thing called the Sunk Cost Effect – and that’s when you put a lot of effort into something, but it’s not going so well, so you just keep putting resources into it. Oh wow! That sounds a lot like my life. The Sunk Cost Effect is believed to contribute to the overall IKEA Effect.
So the IKEA Effect paper or study came out in 2011; has there been more research? There was actually one study that came out in January of this year – 2018 if you’re following along – that looked at this effect in kids, and how kids have ownership of different things and how they value their possessions.
Obviously, I don’t value my possessions. Wait, so if they build a LEGO doll – specifically a foam monster, where you get that foam paper and then you can cut it up into a monster shape and you can put googly eyes on it and glitter – I love them! Yeah, foam monsters. I want that one! I’m kind of attached to this one; it looks like a dinosaur.
They had two groups of kids between 3-6, and one group of kids built their own foam monster, and the other group was just given a monster. And then they looked at how the kid valued the monster, whether it wanted to take it home, and all these different things; and what it found is this IKEA effect and this sense of ownership develops between ages 4 and 5.
So this is actually a lesson on child development. There’s this other effect called the Endowment Effect, which is basically where you view your possessions as an extension of yourself. And that seems to happen between ages 4 and 5.
You know what would have been more fun than building a bookshelf? Building a foam monster. So maybe next time, we can do that instead. Now, after a couple of months of using this furniture, I don’t really appreciate it or value it any more than a similar table I already had.
This doesn’t mean the IKEA effect doesn’t exist – there are many effects in psychology, and they have different magnitudes. They can be stronger in certain situations, affect some people more than others, and it’s tricky to figure out how the effect size in a study translates to your everyday life.
But the coolest thing about the IKEA effect is that we’ve just discovered when the ideas of ownership and effort justification emerge. So putting aside the IKEA Effect and whether or not we like this table more or not because we struggled with it, at the very least we learned that there’s a part in our development, in our growth, in which our brain creates this feeling of attachment to objects.
And that it is a reflection of ourselves. Like this table is a reflection of… my perfection. And I think that’s Joanna’s sweet ending. One more thing – please check out Joanna’s channel and subscribe because I convinced her to help me build my IKEA furniture. She posts hilarious vlogs on race, language, culture, and today – your Bilingual Brain with me. Go on!
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Let me know if you need any further modifications!
Psychology – The scientific study of the mind and behavior. – In psychology class, we learned about how emotions can influence decision-making.
Building – The process of constructing something, such as a structure or an idea. – She enjoyed the building of her new treehouse, learning how to use tools and follow plans.
Furniture – Objects that are used to make a room suitable for living or working, such as tables and chairs. – He decided to make his own furniture for his room, starting with a simple bookshelf.
Effect – A change that is a result or consequence of an action or other cause. – The calming effect of the music helped him concentrate better on his homework.
Value – The importance, worth, or usefulness of something. – She learned the value of patience while waiting for the paint to dry on her DIY project.
Ownership – The act, state, or right of possessing something. – Taking ownership of his mistakes helped him grow and improve in his studies.
Attachment – A strong emotional connection or bond with someone or something. – Her attachment to the old chair made her decide to restore it instead of throwing it away.
Development – The process of growing or improving over time. – The development of his skills in woodworking was evident in the quality of his latest project.
Effort – The use of physical or mental energy to do something; a vigorous or determined attempt. – The effort he put into building the model airplane paid off when it flew perfectly.
Project – A planned piece of work that has a specific purpose and is usually completed over a period of time. – Her science project involved building a small robot that could navigate a maze.
