Leaving the family business: The dynamics of psychological ownership

Abstract

This study challenges the current and dominant notion that psychological ownership is static by exploring its dynamic nature. It addresses how individual family business owners express their psychological ownership and how psychological ownership is impacted over time. Based on a longitudinal and qualitative study during a real-time exit, we conclude that family business owners assign meanings to their psychological ownership that are individual, multifold, enduring and volatile. Furthermore, we conclude that the dynamics of psychological ownership imply that it varies in meanings, among individuals, and in presence and duration of meanings. We also conclude that it is influenced by contextual circumstances, and that it is possible to liberate oneself cognitively and emotionally from psychological ownership.