Ikea Effect: That’s why we appreciate things we’ve made ourselves more

Ikea effect
That’s why we value things more that we have made ourselves

Do-it-yourself furniture can get on our last nerve. With its 1,000 particles and twice as many nuts and bolts (of which at least three are missing, of course) we need forever to sort ourselves out. It takes quite a while before the result is there, usually rather shaky than bombproof, during which we have gone through all emotional states from annoyance to rage to complete resignation. But once we’ve made it and the piece of furniture is in place, we feel proud.

The Ikea effect: I did it all by myself!

There is a very appropriate name for this feeling: the Ikea effect. However, this does not only refer to the products of our favorite Swedish furniture store, but also to other things that we have laboriously worked out for ourselves. Various studies have shown that we appreciate something more when we have done it ourselves or achieved it.

As early as 2011, Harvard psychologists led by Michael Norton were able to use the Ikea effect in a study prove. For their study, the research team had people assemble Ikea furniture themselves, among other things. They observed that the participants valued the result more when they had achieved it themselves – even if things didn’t go smoothly when they put it together. But just because they made the effort, they were happier afterwards.

The whole thing can also be transferred to other areas of life: If we climb a mountain on foot, we can enjoy the view a little more than if we had taken the gondola to the top. Because the feeling of having made an effort for something and having achieved something with these efforts – whether it’s the mountain climb or the assembled piece of furniture – fills us with deep satisfaction. This strengthens our self-confidence and self-confidence. “You can do anything,” the crooked Billy shelf seems to whisper to us.

Study: Do it yourself, better performance

The Ikea effect is not only reflected in our satisfaction, but also in our performance. This is what Sören Köcher from the TU Dortmund and Keith Wilcox from Texas A&M University investigated and found that not only do we appreciate things we build ourselves more, we also get better results from them than from pieces we have bought ready-made.

For example, the participants in their study were asked to screw ballpoint pens and golf clubs together – and use the pen to find more solutions to a riddle or sink the ball with the club in fewer strokes than those who were handed the tool in question.

“Building something yourself strengthens confidence in one’s own capabilities,” explains economist Köcher. “It doesn’t even matter how complicated or laborious it is to assemble an item.”

Whether it’s tediously assembling Ikea furniture, a lavish meal we cooked ourselves, or the strenuous hike to the dreamy vantage point that we can enjoy a lot more than if we had driven there: making the effort and being rewarded for it apparently makes us happier than having everything fall into our laps. Even if the table shakes at the end, we will always remember that moment of pride when we first looked at our work.

Sources used: sueddeutsche.de, hbs.edu, thedecisionlab.com

mbl
Bridget