Y11W21VC Why we overvalue what we've built ourselves

IKEA discovered something about human psychology that they probably didn't set out to discover. When people assemble furniture themselves — fumbling through the instructions, swearing at a single missing screw — they value the end result far more than they'd value an identical piece that arrived fully built. This week's article examines why we over-value what we've made ourselves, and where this tendency helps us and where it doesn't.

Core Vocabulary

overvalue

/ˌəʊvəˈvæljuː/|o·ver·val·ue

verb

To assign greater worth, importance, or value to something than it actually has.

Word Breakdown: over- (prefix "excessively") + value (to assign worth)

Word family: overvalued (adj.), overvaluation (n.)

Synonyms: overrate, overestimate, misjudge the worth of

Collocations: overvalue your work, overvalue a possession, overvalue effort

Example: We tend to overvalue what we have made ourselves — a psychological tendency explored in the study of the IKEA effect.

In the articleWhy we overvalue what we've built ourselves Here's something you may have noticed in your own house.

investment

/ɪnˈvestmənt/|in·vest·ment

noun

The commitment of time, effort, money, or resources toward something, with an expectation of return or result.

Word Breakdown: -ment (noun-forming suffix); from Latin *investire* "to clothe"

Word family: invest (v.), investor (n.), invested (adj.)

Synonyms: commitment, outlay, contribution

Collocations: emotional investment, financial investment, prior investment

Example: The more effort and investment we put into something, the more we tend to overvalue the result — regardless of its actual quality.

In the articleWhat it required was effort — the investment of time, attention and labour in something that was now, by virtue of that investment, felt to be theirs.

attachment

/əˈtætʃmənt/|at·tach·ment

noun

A strong emotional connection or bond to a person, object, or idea.

Word Breakdown: -ment (noun-forming suffix)

Word family: attach (v.), attached (adj.), detachment (antonym)

Synonyms: bond, connection, affection

Collocations: emotional attachment, attachment to a possession, develop an attachment

Example: Once we own something — even a flawed shelf we built ourselves — we develop an attachment that distorts our evaluation of it.

In the articleA life lived without it — a life where we felt no special attachment to anything we'd made — would be emotionally cold, and probably not very productive of the kinds of things humans admire.

tangible

/ˈtændʒɪbəl/|tan·gi·ble

adjective

Able to be touched or physically experienced; also used figuratively for things that are real and concrete rather than abstract.

Word Breakdown: From Latin *tangere* "to touch"

Word family: tangibly (adv.), tangibility (n.), intangible (antonym)

Synonyms: physical, concrete, real

Collocations: tangible result, tangible proof, tangible effort

Example: There is something about tangible, physical creation — actually building something with your hands — that seems to amplify our sense of ownership.

inflated

/ɪnˈfleɪtɪd/|in·flat·ed

adjective

Artificially raised or exaggerated beyond its real or justified level.

Word Breakdown: -ed (past participle/adjective suffix); from Latin *inflare* "to blow into"

Word family: inflate (v.), inflation (n.), inflating (v.)

Synonyms: exaggerated, overstated, artificially raised

Collocations: inflated price, inflated sense of value, inflated self-assessment

Example: Effort investment leads to an inflated sense of the product's worth — we price our own work higher than independent judges do.

escalate

/ˈeskəleɪt/|es·ca·late

verb

To increase in intensity, scale, or seriousness; to rise rapidly or progressively.

Word Breakdown: From escalator (moving staircase); extended metaphorically to any progressive increase

Word family: escalation (n.), escalating (adj./v.), de-escalate (antonym)

Synonyms: intensify, increase, grow

Collocations: escalate commitment, costs escalate, escalate rapidly

Example: The sunk cost fallacy causes people to escalate commitment to a failing project rather than cutting their losses.

proprietary

/prəˈpraɪətəri/|pro·pri·e·ta·ry

adjective

Relating to ownership; belonging to or characteristic of an owner, often implying possessiveness or exclusiveness.

Word Breakdown: From Latin *proprietarius* "owner"

Word family: proprietor (n.), proprietorship (n.)

Synonyms: owned, possessive, exclusive

Collocations: proprietary interest, proprietary attachment, proprietary software

Example: People can feel a strong proprietary attachment to things they have made — a sense that their ownership gives the object special status.

divergence

/daɪˈvɜːdʒəns/|di·ver·gence

noun

The process of moving apart or developing in different directions; a difference or growing gap between two things.

Word Breakdown: -ence (noun-forming suffix); from Latin *divergere* "to bend apart"

Word family: diverge (v.), divergent (adj.), convergence (antonym)

Synonyms: gap, difference, split

Collocations: divergence between, growing divergence, divergence of opinion

Example: The divergence between how much makers value their work and how much buyers are willing to pay is the central finding of the IKEA effect research.

Technical Terms

IKEA effect

/aɪˈkiːə ɪˈfɛkt/|IK·EA ef·fect

noun phrase

Norton, Mochon and Ariely's finding that people value self-built things more than identical pre-made alternatives

Synonyms: effort justification bias, labour-love effect, DIY overvaluation

Collocations: exhibit the IKEA effect, IKEA effect inflates value, overcome the IKEA effect

Example: Participants who assembled their own flat-pack furniture rated it as more valuable than identical pre-assembled pieces — the IKEA effect attaching disproportionate worth to objects produced by their own effort.

In the articleA team of behavioural researchers — Michael Norton at Harvard, Daniel Mochon at Tulane, and Dan Ariely at Duke — formally documented this feeling in a 2011 study they called, memorably, the IKEA effect.

sunk cost fallacy

/sʌŋk kɒst ˈfæləsi/|sunk cost fal·la·cy

noun phrase

continuing an effort because of investment already made, rather than future value

Synonyms: Concorde fallacy, past-cost entrapment, irreversible investment error

Collocations: fall prey to the sunk cost fallacy, sunk cost fallacy prolongs, recognise the sunk cost fallacy

Example: The company continued funding a failing project because of the sunk cost fallacy — reasoning that the money already spent would be "wasted" if they stopped, even though stopping was clearly the better financial decision.

effort justification

/ˈɛfət ˌdʒʌstɪfɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/|ef·fort jus·ti·fi·ca·tion

noun phrase

the tendency to value outcomes proportionally to effort invested

Synonyms: cognitive dissonance reduction, hardship rationalisation, toil-value attribution

Collocations: effort justification explains, driven by effort justification, effort justification in hazing

Example: Effort justification explains why fraternities that subject new members to demanding initiations are rated as more desirable: the harder you worked to gain access, the more valuable membership comes to feel.

In the articleWhat it required was effort — the investment of time, attention and labour in something that was now, by virtue of that investment, felt to be theirs.

endowment effect

/ɪnˈdaʊmənt ɪˈfɛkt/|en·dow·ment ef·fect

noun phrase

valuing something more once it's yours, regardless of effort

Synonyms: ownership premium, possession overvaluation, mere ownership effect

Collocations: demonstrate the endowment effect, endowment effect inflates, overcome the endowment effect

Example: Participants asked to sell a mug they had been given demanded roughly twice what participants asked to buy the same mug were willing to pay — the endowment effect inflating the value the moment of possession occurred.

In the articleThe most famous is the endowment effect, documented by Richard Thaler in a now-classic series of experiments at Cornell.

escalation of commitment

/ˌɛskəˈleɪʃ(ə)n əv kəˈmɪtmənt/|es·ca·la·tion of com·mit·ment

noun phrase

increasing investment in a failing course because of prior investment

Synonyms: commitment escalation, throwing good money after bad, entrapment

Collocations: escalation of commitment traps, driven by escalation of commitment, prevent escalation of commitment

Example: Political leaders who had publicly championed a military intervention showed the strongest escalation of commitment when it failed — their prior investment making withdrawal feel more costly than continuing.

Figurative Phrases

pride of ownership

emotional attachment to what one owns

Etymology/Type: idiom; 'pride' beyond simple valuation

Synonyms: the satisfaction of possessing something, the emotional value attached to ownership, proprietorial attachment

Example: Pride of ownership inflates the perceived value of homes far beyond market assessments — the effort and identity invested in the property adding a subjective premium that no buyer is prepared to pay.

In the articleIt sits in a cluster of related findings in behavioural economics, each describing how ownership and effort distort our sense of value.

built with your own hands

self

Etymology/Type: created — idiom; even metaphorical when no literal building occurred

Synonyms: made personally, created through direct effort, produced without delegation

Example: Something built with your own hands carries a value that transcends its market price — a dynamic the IKEA effect captures and which explains why people resist replacing even demonstrably inferior homemade items.

In the articleWhy we overvalue what we've built ourselves Here's something you may have noticed in your own house.

put in the work

committed effort

Etymology/Type: idiom; 'put in' not literal placement

Synonyms: invest effort, work hard at something, contribute sustained energy

Example: People who have put in the work to reach a goal consistently overvalue its outcome compared with those who received the same result without effort — the labour itself creating a sense of worth.

blood, sweat and tears

substantial effort

Etymology/Type: idiom; figurative, rarely literal

Synonyms: great effort and sacrifice, intense personal investment, hard-won achievement

Example: The venture had cost him blood, sweat and tears over three years, and that investment made him unwilling to close it even when the data clearly showed the market had moved on.

invested in

emotionally committed to

Etymology/Type: idiom; no financial investment required

Synonyms: emotionally or financially committed to, having a personal stake in, attached to the outcome of

Example: The more invested in a project a person becomes, the harder they find it to assess it objectively — their attachment to the outcome distorting the perception of evidence that points toward stopping.

In the articleIt's because earned money carries more perceived value per unit, thanks to the labour invested in it.

see through rose-tinted glasses

view with unrealistic positivity

Etymology/Type: idiom; no physical glasses

Synonyms: view with excessive optimism, perceive more positively than reality warrants, evaluate charitably

Example: We tend to see through rose-tinted glasses when assessing things we have built ourselves — the effort we invested making us generous evaluators of products that impartial observers would rate far more critically.

In the articleFor things where you feel little emotional value — a sum of inherited money, a tax refund, a windfall of any kind — ask yourself: if I had earned this through two years of work, how would I treat it?

Confusing Words

tangible vs tangential

These paronyms look similar but describe entirely different things — one about physical reality, the other about relevance.

  • tangible — real, concrete, and capable of being touched or clearly perceived. A tangible benefit is a specific, demonstrable gain rather than an abstract or vague one. Tangible evidence is physical and directly measurable. The word emphasises actuality and concreteness.
  • tangential — only loosely connected to the main point; peripheral rather than central. A tangential remark departs from the main line of thought. Tangential is from geometry — a tangent line barely touches a curve — and in language it describes the same marginality of connection.

If describing something concrete, real, and directly graspable, use tangible. If describing something that is only loosely or peripherally connected to the main point, use tangential.

inflated vs elevated

Both words describe something raised above a normal level, but they carry very different evaluative connotations.

  • inflated — raised beyond a justified or accurate level; exaggerated or overblown. An inflated valuation is one that exceeds what the evidence supports. Inflated language is pompous. The word always implies that the level is higher than it should be — an illegitimate increase.
  • elevated — raised to a higher level in a way that may be appropriate, impressive, or positive. An elevated position is one of status; elevated language is formal and dignified; an elevated heart rate may be healthy in the context of exercise. The word carries no implication that the increase is unjustified.

If the higher level is unjustified, exaggerated, or beyond what the evidence supports, use inflated. If the higher level is neutral or positive in character, use elevated.

escalate vs elevate

Both words describe an increase or rise, but they differ in the speed, control, and connotation of that movement.

  • escalate — to increase rapidly, intensify, or expand in scale, often in a way that is difficult to control. Conflict escalates; costs escalate; situations escalate. The word carries a connotation of uncontrolled or problematic growth — something moving in a direction that needs to be managed.
  • elevate — to raise to a higher level, often deliberately and with a positive implication. To elevate someone's mood, status, or performance is to improve it purposefully. Elevation is controlled and often intentional — the opposite of the out-of-control growth that escalation implies.

If describing rapid, intensifying, or difficult-to-control growth, use escalate. If describing a deliberate, controlled, or positive raising to a higher level, use elevate.