Origins of Possession Owning and Sharing in Development

Human possession psychology originates from deeply rooted experiential capacities shared with other animals. However, unlike other animals, we are a uniquely self-conscious species concerned with reputation, and possessions affect our perception of how we exist in the eyes of others. This book discusses the psychology surrounding the ways in which humans experience possession, claim ownership, and share from both a developmental and cross-cultural perspective. Philippe Rochat explores the origins of human possession and its symbolic development across cultures. He proposes that human possession psychology is particularly revealing of human nature, and also the source of our elusive moral sense.

Introduction: making sense of human possession; Part I. Psychology: Principles of Human Possession: 1. Experiencing possession; 2. Claiming ownership; 3. Possession and ownership transfer; 4. Symbolic spinoffs of possession; Part II. Development: Human Ontogeny of Possession: 5. First possession; 6. Ownership in development; 7. Sharing in development; Part III. Culture: Human Possession in Context: 8. Culture and possession; 9. Possession in children across cultures; Conclusion: great transformation.

Philippe Rochat is Professor of Psychology at Emory University, Atlanta and the head of the Emory Infant and Child Laboratory. His research focuses on the developmental origins of human self-awareness and social cognition in infants and children growing up in different social and cultural circumstances. His work includes Others in Mind (Cambridge, 2009), The Infant's World (2001), Early Social Cognition (1999) and The Self in Infancy (1995).