Mine or mother’s? Exploring the self-ownership effect across cultures

Abstract

In exploring self-biases in cognition and decision-making, recent research has demonstrated cultural variation in the emergence of the self-ownership effect in memory. Whereas Westerners display enhanced memory for items owned by the self (vs. mother), this effect is reversed among Asian participants. Developing this line of inquiry, here we considered whether cultural influences on ownership extend to other outcomes-specifically, the efficiency of object categorization. In two experiments, Western and Asian participants were required to report if previously assigned items (i.e., pencils and pens) were owned-by-self or owned-by-mother. Results revealed a self-prioritization effect for participants from both cultures, such that responses were faster to self-owned than mother-owned objects. To establish the origin of this effect, the processes underlying task performance were interrogated using a hierarchical drift diffusion model approach. Results of these analyses revealed that the self-ownership effect was underpinned primarily by a pre-decisional bias (i.e., starting point of evidence accumulation). These findings elucidate the extent and origin of the self-ownership effect during object processing.

It’s not always about me: The effects of prior beliefs and stimulus prevalence on self–other prioritisation

“…Instead, self-prioritisation has been traced to the operation of a different underlying mechanism—a response bias ( Constable et al, 2019 ). For example, using drift diffusion modelling to identify the processes supporting task performance ( Ratcliff et al, 2016 ; Voss et al, 2013 ; White & Poldrack, 2014 ), Golubickis et al (2018 , 2019 ) demonstrated that the self-ownership effect was underpinned by variability in the evidential requirements of response generation, such that less information was needed to generate owned-by-self compared with owned-by-other decisions. Inter-estingly, no differences in the efficiency of stimulus processing were observed as a function of ownership.…”

“…Indeed, conflict between siblings and peers routinely derives from disputes over proprietorship ( Furby, 1980 ; Ramsey, 1987 ). In Golubickis et al’s (2018 , 2019 ) object-classification task, a response bias is indicative of the operation of an egocentric task-related strategy. That is, repeated interactions with one’s own (vs. other people’s) possessions create a preference for self-relevant responses (i.e., prior experience tunes decisional processing).…”

“…Although providing a viable explanation for the self-ownership effect, an egocentric response-related strategy may reflect the operation of a transitory task-related tactic rather than an inevitable facet of decisional processing. Inspection of the paradigm employed by Golubickis et al (2018 , 2019 ) suggests why. In their experiment, prior to the object-classification task, pencils or pens were randomly assigned to the self and a best friend.…”

“…Beyond shape–label associations, self-prioritisation effects have been demonstrated across different experimental paradigms, stimuli, and sensory modalities ( Frings & Wentura, 2014 ; Mattan et al, 2015 ; Moradi et al, 2015 ; Payne et al, 2017 ; Schäfer et al, 2015 ; Wozniak & Knoblich, 2019 ). In particular, object ownership has proved a productive task context for exploring the process and products of self-referential mentation (e.g., Constable et al, 2011 , 2014 , 2019 ; Cunningham et al, 2008 ; Falbén et al, 2019 ; Golubickis et al, 2018 , 2019 , in press ; Lockwood et al, 2018 ; Sparks et al, 2016 ; Truong et al, 2017 ; Turk et al, 2011 ). For example, Golubickis et al (2018) presented participants with objects (i.e., pencils and pens) that ostensibly belonged either to the self or a best friend, and their task was simply to classify the items (i.e., owned-by-self vs. owned-by-friend) as quickly as possible.…”

It goes with the territory: Ownership across spatial boundaries.

“…There is considerable evidence for ownership advantages in memory (e.g. Cunningham et al, 2008; and some evidence that items designated as self-owned may be perceptually or attentionally prioritised (Truong et al, 2017) or may create a bias in judgement and decision making Golubickis et al, 2018;Golubickis, Ho, Falbén, Mackenzie, et al, 2019). Selfrelevant stimuli (such as owned objects) are also identified and responded to faster than other stimuli (Constable, Rajsic, et al, 2019;Sui et al, 2012;Woźniak et al, 2018;Woźniak & Knoblich, 2019).…”