MATERIAL

SELF

OBJECTIVES/ COMPETENCIES: At the end of the module, the students are expected to:

1. Explain the association of self and possessions. 2. Identify the role

of consumer culture to self and identity 3. Appraise one’s self based
on the description of material self.

ABSTRACTIO
N:

When you shop, have and possess something, does it define who you are? What do
your possessions mean?

According to Beck (1988), a key to understanding what possessions mean is

recognizing that, knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally, we regard our
possessions as parts of ourselves. We regard our possessions as parts of ourselves. We are
what we have and what we possess.

❖ THE SELF AND OUR

POSSESSION
- Defining ourselves by our possessions can contribute to feelings of well-being, as
well as feelings of emptiness and vulnerability. - Overreliance on possessions for
self-definition may be manifested in how we shop, how we care for the things we acquire,
and to what extent we cling to our possessions rather than discard them. o Materialism –
defined as “the importance a consumer attaches to worldly
possessions.”
▪ At the highest levels of materialism, such possessions assume a central place in a
person’s life and are believed to provide the greatest sources of satisfaction.
▪ To the highly materialistic person, purchases of consumer goods offer the potential
for magical transformation of self.

❖ POSSESSIONS AS PART OF
SELF
- Materials objects act as reminders and confirmers of our identity, and that this
identity may often reside more in these objects than it does in the individual. -
CONTROL – a critical determinant of feelings of possession.
o The more we believe we possess or are possessed by an object, the more a part
of self it becomes.
▪ Difference on Sex o Men tend to value possessions for self-focused and instrumental
 reasons, women tend to emphasize expressive and other-oriented reasons for feelings
attachment to possessions.
▪ Difference on Age o As we grow older, the possessions we cite as “special” tend
increasingly to be those that symbolize other people such as gifts from people and
photographs of people.
o Possessions are regarded not only as a part of self, but also as an instrument for
the “development” of our sense of self.

- We make things a part of self by creating or altering them.

o We invest “psychic energy” in an object to which we have directed our labor,
time, and attention.
• This energy and its products are regarded as a part of self because they have
grown or emerged from the self.

- Emphasis on material possessions tends to decrease with age, but remains high
throughout life as we seek to express ourselves through possessions and use them to seek
happiness, to remind ourselves of experiences, accomplishments, and some other people in
our lives, and even to create a sense of life after death. - Our accumulation of possessions
provides a sense of past and tells us who we are,
where we have come from, and perhaps where we are going.

❖ MASTERY OF POSSESSION AND HUMAN

DEVELOPMENT
- Relationships with objects are three way: person – thing – person. - Through the
possessions that we have, we also acquire social recognition that follows upon the display
of status symbols, but it includes also the much more private feedback provided by special
household objects that objectify a person’s past, present, and future, as well as his or her
close relationships. - General function of possessions across the age continuum: to provide
us with a
concrete sense of our past. o Possessions are a convenient means of storing the
memories and feelings that
evoke our sense of past.

❖ SHAPING THE WAY WE SEE

OURSELVES
- Why do we shop or buy? Is it for luxury or for necessity?
a. Biological - Neurons send signals to different parts of the brain in buying or acquiring
possessions such as hypothalamus, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala. b.
Psychological
 o Sigmund Freud’s concept of the id
- We are pleasure-seeking organisms. o Abraham
Maslow
- There are needs that we need to satisfy.

❖ CONSUMER
CULTURE
- It is a form of capitalism and a way of life that focuses on the selling of consumer
goods and spending of money. - It emphasizes a lifestyle where material goods
provide happiness and
 satisfaction. - Consumer culture is a culture driven by the power of money where
happiness is
attained in buying and owning personal property. - Manifestations
that an individual is slave of consumerism:
o Being shopaholic o Panic buying o Purchasing the latest
gadgets or any piece of merchandize
o Competing with peers in economic aspect o Buying expensive brands o Always
wanting more - POSITIVE PERSPECTIVE: Consumerism helps drive the economy
because people
are encouraged to spend. - NEGATIVE PERSPECTIVE: It encourages people to
overspend which can lead to
personal debts.
o It drives people to acquire status symbol and purchase expensive things
demonstrating their capability to have them.

ACTIVIT
Y:

1. Money Budgeting and Spending - Form six groups from the class. Pick one monetary
denomination. The group will
answer the question: WHAT WILL YOU BUY WITH THIS AMOUNT AND WHY? -
Guide Questions:
a. What did you learn from the activity about money? b. What do you feel when you buy
something? c. Why do we buy? What are the things that you consider in buying? d. “I
shop, therefore I am: I have therefore, I am?” Do you agree or disagree? 2. Quick
survey: WHICH DO YOU PREFER – TO BE RICH OR TO BE HAPPY?