
Ownership and Willingness to Trade
Easy
Does owning something make you less willing to trade it away? You split participants into two groups and give each person the same mug. One group is told the mug is a gift they keep. The other group is told the mug is just for use during the experiment.
Then you bring everyone together for five minutes to trade mugs if they want. You record which group trades more often. This tests the endowment effect (the tendency to value things you own more highly).
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that people will value a particular possession more if they own it.
Method & Materials
You will divide participants into two groups, give each group a mug, and observe the groups to see if they're more likely to trade their mugs if they own them.
You will need participants (at least 8), items for each participant (all items should be the same), and a data sheet.
Eureka Crate — engineering & invention kits for ages 12+ — monthly projects that build real-world skills. (Affiliate link)
See what’s includedResults
The results of the experiment showed that Group A, who owned the mugs, were more likely to trade than Group B, who were given the mugs as a gift. This suggests that people value possessions more if they own them.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it helps to explain why people behave irrationally in certain situations. It also helps to explain concepts such as sunk costs.
Also Consider
Variations of this experiment could include using different items for the participants, or having the participants trade items of different values.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.Related videos
These videos explain the science behind this project and demonstrate key concepts used in the experiment.
Share this Science Project:
Related Science Fair Project Ideas
Fly a red and a white paper airplane past an observer to test whether color changes the perceived speed.
Easy
Give two groups the same mug under different ownership conditions and discover whether owning it changes how much people think it is worth.
Easy
Time left-handed and right-handed participants writing the same phrase in mirror language to see which group finishes first.
Easy
Share this Science Project:
