The Endowment Effect: A part of the reason everyone overvalues their own players

Steerpike

We are never give up
Feb 15, 2014
1,790
1,744
Colorado
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endowment_effect

"In psychology and behavioral economics, the endowment effect (also known as divestiture aversion and related to the mere ownership effect in social psychology) is the hypothesis that people ascribe more value to things merely because they own them.
This is typically illustrated in two ways. In a valuation paradigm, people will tend to pay more to retain something they own than to obtain something they do not own—even when there is no cause for attachment, or even if the item was only obtained minutes ago. In an exchange paradigm, people given a good are reluctant to trade it for another good of similar value. For example, participants first given a Swiss chocolate bar were generally unwilling to trade it for a coffee mug, whereas participants first given the coffee mug were generally unwilling to trade it for the chocolate bar."


This doesn't seem to exactly fit the subforum, but it seems the most sciency of all the forums.

Basically I think it's interesting that there is an underlying psychological theory of why fan trade proposals are so terrible and why trades in general are much rarer than they probably out to be.
 

1972

"Craigs on it"
Apr 9, 2012
14,426
3,147
Canada
Look at how much teams overvalue and overrate first rounders after they draft the player. The 19th overall pick is basically untouchable for even established players.
 

Canadiens1958

Registered User
Nov 30, 2007
20,020
2,778
Lake Memphremagog, QC.
In hockey trading the known for the unknown could be named the Milbury dilemma. Trading a young Roberto Luongo with a proven NHL debut for the potential of an NHL unproven Rick Di Pietro.
 

Critical13

Fear is the mind-killer.
Feb 25, 2017
12,617
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Sitting at a desk.
Nice post OP, thanks :)

This definitely feels true. Also, no one wants to be the team that trades Patrick Sharp and then watches him win a bunch of cups as a key cog.
 

Howie Hodge

Zombie Woof
Sep 16, 2017
4,425
4,030
Buffalo, NY
Natural for fans to favor their own players. Our "fandom" often exceeds our players actual worth in most cases.

The players that fans don't embrace are often proposed as trade chips for other players that they know they would.

Naturally this incites fans of the proposed trading partner.

"___ _____ isn't a starting point, he's not being moved" is often a defensive posture to favorites more than a rational process to dispute trade proposals.

In some cases it is correct, and those players are not likely starting points in a rational, well thought out trade proposal.

Human nature.
 
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HabbyGilmore

Best man for the job
Feb 17, 2011
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Saint John, NB Canda
Natural for fans to favor their own players. Our "fandom" often exceeds our players actual worth in most cases.

The players that fans don't embrace are often proposed as trade chips for other players that they know they would.

Naturally this incites fans of the proposed trading partner.

"___ _____ isn't a starting point, he's not being moved" is often a defensive posture to favorites more than a rational process to dispute trade proposals.

In some cases it is correct, and those players are not likely starting points in a rational, well thought out trade proposal.

Human nature.

Good point. In a Sim league I am in I always say that about Cody Glass who I drafted. I have no real idea how Cody Glass will do in the NHL but he's a non starter for me. I mean I see that he's is a 2 point per game guy in Junior. He's not the only one so I don't know why but I am stuck on keeping him until I can see what he can do. If I'm wrong I'll wish that I had made the jump and traded him for someone proven in the NHL already but I think the fear of "what if I'm wrong" is stronger.
 

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