Image from IKEA catalog

Ever spent a few frustrating hours trying to put together a large piece of furniture from IKEA? Or perhaps you’ve put in some hours refinishing a piece of furniture, or pinteresting your way to a chair made out of a whiskey barrel. Well, research shows that you may become especially attached to things that you build (1). Results in this study showed that participants were likely to bid more money for things they built, and felt that their skill was comparable to experts. Basically, you DID that bookcase, and you know it.

(1) Norton, M. I., Mochon, D., & Ariely, D. (2012). The IKEA effect: When labor leads to love.” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22 (3), 453–460.