The Material Self

Understanding the Self

Training. Miriam College.
January 4-20, 2017
 Exercise 1
“Shopping”
Choose 5 objects around to put inside
your grocery bag. Choose objects that
you can identify with.
 Group Processing
• What were the objects selected?
• What are the connections to the self of these objects?
• Insights
 Possessions as Symbolic Expressions of
Identity (Symbolic Communicational Model)
• There’s an observation that one’s possessions are considered a part of oneself. They
are symbols and extensions of the personal and social aspects of her
identity/personhood.
“ This outfit is s---o you!”
“This is the perfect gift for you!”
“My ancestral land is all I am”
“I don’t want to be poor anymore”
“This is all I have and you are taking them away?”
 The Role/Function of Possessions
Levi-Strauss (1965)
Possessions do not just have value; they are not merely economic commodities. They
are also vehicles and instruments for realities of another order:
• influence
• power
• sympathy
• social status
• emotions
From early years to old age, possessions
are symbols of ourselves and of our
identity.
 Role of Possessions
Possessions may deliver/exhibit the following:
- Control and expertise (actual or impression)
- Comfort and emotional stability
- A concrete record of achievements (cf. museum)
- Past and future goals
- A souvenir of relationships (cf. mememtos)
 We are able to make ourselves
known through our possessions
Other people are able to know us
through our possessions.
 Social Status
• What does your house look like? (home as identity shell)
• What are the things that can be found in our living room?
• Are you from the upper class? Middle class? Or lower class?

The value and significance of the status symbol are altered through time.
 The Meaning of Gift-Giving

• If gift-giving is divorced from a good intention, gifts are used to show who
you are, your social status, etc.
 Advertisement at Consumer Goods
• Notice: a child crying and throwing tantrums in a shop as the mother refuses
to buy what the child wants.
• Market research and advertising companies have become relevant in what
they can deliver.
• Self-image at brand-image (“We have to be among the top 4 schools…”)
• The association of the products to genders (for men or for women, etc.)
 Symbolic Self-Completion
Wickland & Gollwitzer, 1982, 1985

• Goods and possessions are used to fill in or to compensate for the person
lacks. (E.g. Even though you are not too smart or not qualified, so long as
you wear an expensive watch, an high-class pair of shoes and you have the
latest model of cellphone.
• Reflect: Is it for real that a person would feel good about herself if she has
an expensive set of clothes? Car? Bag?
 When is enough enough for a
materialistic person?
3 Dimensions or Orienting Values (Richins, 1991)
1. Acquisition centrality : materialists tend to place possessions and the
process of acquiring possessions at the center of their lives.
2. Acquisition as the pursuit of happiness : materialists tend to view their
possessions and their acquisition as a means of providing the materialist
with some level of personal well-being or satisfaction with their lives.
3. Possession-defined success : materialists tend to base their own and others’
success on the number and quality of possessions.
Can money really buy happiness and
stability?
 Pets as Extensions/Symbols of the Self
• Pets have become parts of the extended self. Pets belong to the top 5
possessions.
• Positive relationship between self-esteem and owning pets (Covert et al,
1985)
• The dog as “co-therapist” (Levinson, 1962)
 Inside prisons and mental institutions (and
even, homes for the aged)

• The status and identity of a resident depends on what he/she possesses.

• They dislike confiscation of stuff, the wearing of uniforms, the banning of
makeup, etc.
 As a person grows older…
• An aging person would wish that whatever defines who she is would stay
with her—photos, jewelries, small appliances
• Sentimentality, memories of friends and experiences… photo albums give a
sense of continuity
 And now, the end is near…
• What to give or leave those who will be left behind: accentuating portions of their
personal histories for which they wish to be remembered.
• 3 Strategies–
1.Solidifying identities – a period of intense self-reflection, heightened life review
process
2.Accumualting artifacts – objects that represent the person, her accomplishments,
talents, journeys, sentiments.
3.Distributing artifacts – wills and testaments
 “Tatanda at lilipas din ako, ngunit
mayroong awiting, iiwanan sa iyong …
alaala
Kahit minsa’y tayo’y nagkasama…”