Sharing: Decisions and Moral Judgments about Letting others Use One's Possessions

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Abstract
This study examined the psychological relationship between possession and control over the use of one's possessions. It deals both with decisions regarding use and moral judgments about the sharing of personal possessions. It charts the various bases of such decisions and judgments at different age levels, providing a framework for further empirical work in this area. Interview questions were asked of 30 American subjects at each of five age levels (kindergarten, second grade, fifth grade, eleventh grade, and 40-to 50-yr.-old adults). To explore the range of cross-cultural variability within the Western-industrialized world, 60 Israeli kibbutz and 60 Israeli city subjects were also interviewed (in each case, 30 of kindergarten age and 30 of second grade age). A content analysis of the responses was performed, and the relative frequencies of different bases for (a) decisions about use and (b) moral judgments about sharing are presented for the different ages and in the different cultures studied. Particular attention is given to the relation of these results to previous experimental studies of sharing behavior.