Mastery pleasure versus mere ownership: A quasi-experimental cross-cultural and cross-alphabetical test of the name letter effect

Four studies test both the alternative explanation advanced by Hoorens and Todorova (1988) for Nuttin's (1984, 1985, 1987) name letter effect (NLE), and two interpretations for an unexplained finding of the former authors. Flemish, Hungarian and Thai children show an increasing rather than a decreasing NLE over primary school grades (studies 1, 2 and 4). Thai university students and school children prefer own name letters in their ‘mother’ alphabet (Thai) but also in their second (Roman) alphabet (studies 3 and 4). All these results contradict the primacy of own name writing or mastery pleasure hypothesis. Independently of the time interval between the acquisition of both alphabets, a stronger NLE is found in the subjects ‘mother’ alphabet than in their second alphabet, contradicting a mitigated mastery pleasure explanation for the stronger NLE in one's ‘mother’ alphabet (Hoorens and Todorova, 1988). All the data are consistent with Nuttin's interpretation of the NLE in terms of the affective consequences of ‘mere ownership’. Finally, the striking generality of the NLE over languages, alphabets, and cultures is again demonstrated.