Motives for acquiring and saving and their relationship with object attachment

Abstract

Motives for acquiring and saving objects are closely linked to object attachment, but the nature of these associations has not been established. A better understanding of the motives for acquiring and saving possessions and how they relate to object attachment may reveal insights into the underpinnings of hoarding disorder. In turn, these insights can aid in identifying optimal targets for interventions for hoarding problems. In this paper, we propose a simple theoretical model of the dynamic associations among motives to acquire objects, object attachment, and motives to save objects, grounded in a review of the extant literature. Our hope is that this model provides a useful framework to structure future research.