In an [experiment](https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/261737) by Kahneman et al, students were divided into two groups: * Half got a mug, and were asked how much they're willing to part with it for ("willingness to accept", WTA) * Half didn't get a mug, and were asked how much to pay for the same mug ("willingness to accept", WTP) Rational economic theory states that WTA ~= WTP, but in fact, WTA was 2x the WTP. In [another](https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/27/3/360/1796841?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false) experiment by Ariely et al, some students won tickets to NCAA final four tickets. In that case they had WTA ~= 14x WTP (!). Concretely this means that you value the things you own more than you do rationally. [[Zero-based thinking]] is a good way to counteract it. #published 2025-03-07