Possessed: Why We Want More Than We Need by Bruce Hood

The Blurb On The Back:

How ownership came to control us - and what we can do about it.

You may not believe it, but there is a link between our current political instability and your childhood attachment to teddy bears. There’s also a reason why children in Asia are more likely to share than their Western counterparts and why the poor spend more of their income on luxury goods than the rich. Or why your mother is more likely to leave her money to you than your father. What connects these things?

The answer is our need for ownership. Award-winning psychologist Bruce Hood draws on research from his own lab and others around the world to explain why this uniquely human preoccupation governs our behaviour from the cradle to the grave, even when it is often irrational and destructive. What motives us to buy more than we need? Is it innate, or cultural? How does our urge to acquire control our behaviour, even the way we vote? And what can we do about it?

Timely, engaging and persuasive, Possessed is the first book to explore how ownership has us enthralled in relentless pursuit of a false happiness, with damaging consequences for society and the planet - and how we can stop buying into it.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Bruce Hood is professor of Developmental Psychology in Society at Bristol University. This fascinating book examines the psychology of ownership, including distinguishing between legal, moral and psychological possession, links between ownership and personal identity, sharing, the links between wealth and happiness and how to give it away. I came away with a better understanding of why I have so much stuff that I find difficult to give away.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.