Contextual Review: Attachments to Objects
/ Abstract
/ Introduction
/ Contextual Review
/ Attachments to Objects
/ Storytelling in Objects
/ Digitalisation of Collections
/ Methods Overview
/ Memory Objectification
/ Conclusion
/ Bibliography
Developing attachments to objects can develop from the objectification of emotional infrastructures curated through relationships, memories, human connections as a method of securing and representing personal identity. Potentially experienced by many, however the depth and nature of objects’ attachments may vary depending on the individual’s background, mindset, upbringing or social or financial positioning.
Marya Schechtman practice mainly focuses on topics including personal identity, practical reasoning and bioethics. Within their article, ‘In a sentimental mood: memories as treasured objects’ (2021), Marya writes with depth about memories being treated as “treasured objects” despite providing a disclaimer that the paper was merely a publication of a developing project still in process. They offer perspectives on memories and how their valuing assist with personal identity generating a rich back and forth discussion between the memories a person possesses and the objects of memories in their possession. They propose that memories can be treasured objects and they hold value to the person for their wellness and emotional satisfaction of life through the process of revisiting the moments whilst also questioning towards what values of a memory makes it a treasured one in comparison to all other memories. The evidence is proposed to exist during the revisiting of and the experience of the memory itself includes the subconscious data of being a semantic (statistical data like locations) or episodic memory (involving the emotion experienced during). Sentimentality towards a memory as a treasured object invites the psychological perspectives of objects becoming meaningful as the experiencer interprets the experience or memory as an extension of their personal identity thus developing an attachment.
Focused on the interpersonal, nonverbal, relational, organisational, and cultural communications, Kirara Nagatsuka collaborated with Valerie Manusou whoms study focuses on nonverbal event interpretation, interactions across difference and how mindfulness plays in interpersonal relationships, to conduct a study involving interviewing 25 Japanese and 25 American nationals to capture their interpretation on the concept “spark joy” and emotional reactions to objects. The article, ‘Emotion, attachment, representation, and loss: a comparative study on what it means for objects to “spark joy”’ (2024), compares the practices of object interactions between the Japanese culture that have long standing practices like ‘hari kuyo’; a mourning ritual for broken objects, and American culture that has been recently been introduced to practices’ like Japanese organising consultant, Marie Kondo’s “Spark Joy” that’s utilised in home decluttering. The data gathered from this study indicates that the Japanese connect emotionally more to objects than the Americans who focus on the object’s characteristics. Nagatsuka and Manusou’s study highlights that individual’scultural background does impact the connections and attachments the individuals can make with items.
The relationship between object attachments and autobiographical identity is further reinforced in ‘Primacy of memory linkage in choice among valued objects.’ (2006) by Gregory V Jones & Maryanne Martin’s covering memory linkage in valued objects. The research conducted demonstrates that individuals with prioritise obtaining objects with memory attachments over anything else as “Surface appearance and behavioural utility play relatively minor roles.” (Norman, 2004) The experiments hypothesis poses that ‘Among objects which elicit mnemonic processing that a persons most valued possessions are to be found, rather than among objects which are distinguished for the reactive or behavioural processing which they elicit.’ (Jones & Martin, 2006) The first experiment poses that objects are systemically influences by the object’s capacity to evoke memories and understanding this phenomenon creates importance in psychology and economics.
Separating into two phases, the experiment conducted the ‘recall’ phase and that the subjects were asked to recall a number of items based on criteria of usability and were then further asked about characteristics of the object based on the financial importance. The recalled objects were then asked to be recalled in order based off the subject’s personal value in the second ‘choice’ phase. The phases wanted to investigate whether the personal value of an object influenced subjects more by the financial importance or by its mnemonic importance. The results showed that the highest correlate of object value was memory salience. They conducted two more versions of the experiment with the same hypothesis but changed variable to isolated richer data and the results returned in similar nature. These experiments prove that individuals with attachments to objects that they deem treasured is not necessarily due to their elaborate qualities but merely due to the sentimental value they resonate with the object related with experiences or memories.
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