Collective psychological ownership within the work and organizational context: Construct introduction and elaboration

Abstract The construct collective psychological ownership is introduced. Reflecting the psychology of “us” and “ours,” collective psychological ownership emerges through interactive dynamics whereby individuals come to a single and shared mind‐set as it relates to a sense of ownership for a particular object. After providing a conceptual definition for the construct, we turn our attention to a detailed elaboration of the construct, offering comments on its genesis, emergent context, underlying motives, and a discussion of what can and cannot be owned. We also provide a discussion of the dynamics associated with its formation, highlighting the paths down which groups travel that influence the emergence of this psychological state. Next, we turn our attention to the emergence of collective psychological ownership within the organizational and teamwork context paying particular attention to the role of work environment structure. We conclude with a discussion of a set of work‐related attitudinal, motivational, behavioral, and stress‐related outcomes that stem from this psychological state. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.