n a series of experiments they asked people to assemble IKEA boxes - a boring, banal task - or to engage in the more pleasurable activities of folding origami or building Lego sets. The participants then had to bid small sums for the products of their labour, or for a custom- or expert-made equivalent. The results were impressive. People bid considerably more for their own creations, even when they were plain old IKEA boxes. When it came to origami, they stumped up nearly as much for their own forlorn frog or bird as for the same animal folded by an expert - even though other participants subsequently rated their efforts as “nearly worthless crumpled paper” (Journal of Consumer Psychology, DOI: 10.1016/j.jcps.2011.08.002).
The hard way: Our odd desire to do it ourselves - 06 January 2012 - New Scientist
