When My Object Becomes Me: The Mere Ownership of an Object Elevates Domain‐Specific Self‐Efficacy

Past research on the mere ownership effect has shown that when people own an object, they perceive the owned objects more favorably than the comparable non‐owned objects. The present research extends this idea, showing that when people own an object functional to the self, they perceive an increase in their self‐efficacy. Three studies were conducted to demonstrate this new form of the mere ownership effect. In Study 1, participants reported an increase in their knowledge level by the mere ownership of reading materials (a reading package in Study 1a, and lecture notes in Study 1b). In Study 2, participants reported an increase in their resilience to sleepiness by merely owning a piece of chocolate that purportedly had a sleepiness‐combating function. In Study 3, participants who merely owned a flower essence that is claimed to boost creativity reported having higher creativity efficacy. The findings provided insights on how associations with objects alter one's self‐perception.     

化解信仰缺失危机的积极对策

清末民初至"文化大革命"特殊历史时期的社会动荡和极端思潮酿成我国社会信仰缺失的危机,一度造成社会道德衰败、诚信缺失、拜金主义严重、宗教问题凸显、社会和谐稳定难以维持等社会问题。随着改革开放以来宗教信仰自由政策的落实,中国社会向信仰常态回归已成趋势。因此,顺应全球化进程,发挥社会宗教信仰包容融合的特别优势,因势利导促成各宗教和合共生的"宗教共同体",并以此主动化解信仰危机和相关的社会问题,不失为可供选择的积极对策。