Previously, research suggested that people collected things because they felt an emotional connection to the subject matter. However, according to a recent study by Itamar Simonson, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, people are more likely to begin a collection once they possess two of one item. Simonson says this is because people begin to associate owning the same objects with being wasteful or superfluous, but don’t want to get rid of something they enjoy. This redundancy becomes difficult to justify, and thus, a collection ensues.