>Interestingly, participants who had the initial opportunity to use the notebook, but hadn't, were significantly less likely to use the notebook later in the se

>Interestingly, participants who had the initial opportunity to use the notebook, but hadn't, were significantly less likely to use the notebook later in the session, versus those who hadn't had the option. And this finding was not limited just to notebooks. We saw the same pattern in other scenario-based experiments using bottles of wine and TV episodes. eeeehhhhhhhh.... I dunno. "People who don't do a thing once are less likely to do it the next time" seems like it would explain this as well or better, and it's a simpler explanation. And I don't buy that the imaginary-wine followup question implies "more special" either. By telling them that they did not open it immediately, they've set up that initial "did not use" - there are many reasons to not-use something, many of which work in future unspecified scenarios as well. That doesn't imply it is growing less likely to be used with each event, maintenance is sufficient. --- I absolutely agree that some things for some people fall into this kind of spiral. They also get out of it sometimes - I've personally had or seen quite a few "argh, why do we even have this?! [use it or lose it]" sequences. But I think more fall into knickknack-like territory - they were never going to be used, adding more time doesn't change that. It's closer to an emotional attachment to something, and not wanting to lose it. There's no ideal future where it will be used.