Browsing by Author "Elovainio, Reko"

In recent years, intergroup researchers have adopted the concept of collective psychological ownership (CPO) that is derived from the psychology of possessions and organisational psychology research on personal and group level psychological ownership. CPO refers to the sense that something is owned collectively ("This is ours"). CPO is an important concept to consider in relation to societal issues, as it has significant implications for intragroup and intergroup behaviours. It defines feelings of collective responsibility and the right to exclude "outsiders" (e.g., immigrants and ethnic minorities). The main objective of this study was to contribute to the further development of the concept of collective psychological ownership by introducing a new dimension – collective epistemic ownership (CEO). CEO implies that groups may feel collective ownership, not only of territorial possessions, but also ownership over epistemic targets, such as stories, narratives, and histories ("This is our story!"). This study investigated whether CEO can be distinguished from CPO and whether these two dimensions mediate the relationship between ownership principles (autochthony, investment, and formation) and activating ownership experiences (collective control, collective intimate knowledge, and collective investment) to the consequences of perceived ownership (right and responsibility). The study sample consisted of Finnish-speaking adults who identified themselves as ethnic Finns and were surveyed online by Kantar in spring 2023. Quantitative multivariate statistical analyses confirmed that CPO and CEO are distinct constructs. The study found that the principle of autochthony ("We were here first!") was connected to right and responsibility only via CPO, not CEO. Collective investment ("We Finns have worked hard for this country") was strongly connected to right and responsibility via CEO, and to a lesser extent via CPO. Additionally, collective intimate knowledge ("We have a thorough knowledge of this country") was connected to right and responsibility via CEO, not CPO. The ideas of CEO contribute to resolving intergroup conflicts as they revolve around questions of collective ownership of territories but also stories (i.e., histories and narratives). The stories that are "rightfully ours" play a role in how collective ownership is negotiated, inferred, and claimed in relation to other groups. Limitations and future study suggestions are discussed.