Examining Pro-ingroup Preferences and Behaviors as a Function of Psychological Ownership of Place and Social Identification

Categorizing oneself as a member of a group involves merging ones’ sense of self with the group, such that the self becomes an interchangeable exemplar of the social category (Turner et al., 1987) and self-interest and ingroup interests become interchangeable (Brewer, 2010). Because of this, social identification is associated with ingroup favoritism and behaviors that support the ingroup (Brewer, 1999; Brown, 2000). However, we suggest that some of the variance generally explained by social identification may be better explained by the concept of psychological ownership—feelings of ownership for place (Verkuyten & Martinović, 2017), which implies the right to control use or access (Furby, 1978). In Study 1, I demonstrate the empirical distinction between social identification and psychological ownership and demonstrate that psychological ownership of the South is a better predictor of positive attitudes toward the Confederate battle flag than Southern identification. In Study 2, I provide further evidence of the empirical distinction between social identification and psychological ownership and demonstrate that psychological ownership of the United States is a better predictor of intentions to purchase American-made versus foreign-made products than is national identification.