The Ikea Effect

It’s named after a Swedish company that makes cheaply constructed furniture components and sells them in pieces, along with wordless cartoon instructions for assembly, packaged with a mixed bag of hardware, often including several wrong pieces and usually missing one critical component. (Has that ever been your experience?)

In real estate “The Ikea Effect” is often evident when you’ve seen a home that is noticeably overpriced for its size, location, and amenities. The owners had the home built themselves with all the unique customized features that represented their creative energy and labor and thus it was their masterpiece.

And you, unfortunately, saw a house like any other but with paint colors you would never choose at a price you’d never be willing to pay!

The seller had experienced the negative side of “The Ikea Effect”-a psychological phenomenon that explains how we come to love and value the things we put effort into. This cognitive bias was originally identified by three researchers from Harvard Business School, Yale University, and Duke University.

When your project is in a box, it’s just a pile of parts. But once you assemble it it’s your pile of parts! The furniture now represents more than just a chair, a box, or a 17-drawer organizer with specialty hinges. It represents your time, your attention, and your skill in creation.

You really do love what you create yourself more than anything else, and that’s why you would pay so much more to knit a sweater for yourself than to get one on sale at Macys! (speaking for myself, of course!)

How to Profit from the Ikea Effect: Just knowing you’ll enjoy and appreciate the things you sweat for more that the things you don’t, will pay huge dividends in life. Rather than opting for ready-made solutions, you’ll find happiness in the struggle of creating your own.

Remember when your youngster refused your gift of help because they wanted to do it themselves?

Remember how satisfying it was to come up with a plan, a solution, and implement it yourself?

So…don’t buy pre-built furniture, but get out your tools and put it together yourself. .Research how to solve your problem and take joy in your success.

The gist: if you want to be happier, do things for yourself. If you want to make people happy, help them do the same!