Ikea Effect

Definition

The exaggeratedly high value and attachment placed on products that one builds themselves, regardless of the end result quality.

Origin

Coined by Michael Norton, Daniel Mochon and Dan Ariely in a 2011 paper in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, because products from the Swedish manufacturer typically require some assembly. (source)

Everyday Use

This idea taps into something very primal — that we come to more highly value that which we have a hand in making. This can be true for furniture, but also for our projects, our side hustles, our artistic expressions, our labor's of love. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, either! We _should_ value that which we spend more time working on, and bringing into the world -- but the trick is not to _overvalue_ it either, and to let our pride get in the way of our reason.