Material

Self
Chapter 2:
Unpacking the Self
Mr. Darel V. Mananquil, RPm, MAGC
GE 1: Understanding the Self
Course Facilitator
'Cause we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl
What are the factors that affect your
shopping/buying behavior?

#BUDOL
What products or items do you usually
buy in physical or online stores?
Do you consider these
products or items
necessities/needs?
or wants?
 MATERIAL SELF
William James
 “man’s self is the sum total of all that he can call his”
 This includes one’s body, family, clothes, house,
lands, etc.

Trentman (2016)
 If they grew, their owners felt triumphant
 If they faded, they feel a part of themselves was dying.
• The material self consists of what
interests you or passionate about, and
what you spend for.
• Clothing – decorate the self; fashion

• Objects help make the person but they

also show what the person is made of. It
means the use and display of wealth
remains powerful and controversial, and
nowhere more so than for the super rich.

• Luxury goods are also about belonging,

especially to the many millions in Asia
for whom branded handbags and
accessories are physical signs that one
belongs to a global class of stylish
consumers.
• Psychologists have found that money
can powerfully influence our thoughts
and actions in ways that we’re often not
aware of, no matter what our economic
circumstances are (Greogoire, 2014).

• Curtis (2017) manifested that cash can

have serious bearing on one’s beliefs
regarding the way a person views
himself/herself.
• Social and Business Value
• Self-Sufficiency and Service
• Self-View
• Ethics
• Addiction
 These are two motivations for completing a given task.

SOCIAL
A person sees it as a worthy investment of time and
a part of his/her social duty, and he/she is usually
happy to help out.

Social & BUSINESS

When money is offered as the motivation; people
Business start thinking less of the social aspect and more
about the business value.
Value
 Self- Those who are conscious of money typically
Sufficiency strive to be more self-sufficient than those for
whom money isn’t a priority.
& Service
 The amount one earns could have an effect on how he/she views
both himself/herself and others.

Class essentialism – the idea that differences between classes are

based upon identity and genetics, rather than circumstance.

• Poor people tend to believe that social class was not related to genes,
that essentially, anyone can be rich and anyone can be poor.

• Rich people were more likely

to believe that wealth was
part of their genes and
identity, that they were
entitled to wealth based upon
their personal circumstances
and actions. They believe that
Self-View life is fair and people mostly
get what they deserve.
 Those who perceive themselves to be in a higher class were the
most likely to engage in unethical behavior, particularly when a
symbol of wealth was introduced.

Self-interest maximization (Piff) - an idea that suggests

those who have the most money or occupy higher classes are
more likely to take a “what’s in it for me?” attitude. They
actively work toward the most benefit for themselves.

Ethics
 • Many addictions begin because of person gets a positive
response from a certain type of behavior such as shopping
and gambling.

• Behavioral or process addiction – a compulsive

Addiction behavior not motivated by dependency on an addictive
substance, but rather by a process that leads to a seemingly
positive outcome.
SHAPING THE WAY WE SEE OURSELVES:
THE ROLES OF CONSUMER CULTURE ON
OUR SENSE OF SELF AND IDENTITY

At present, what are the things that you possess

which you consider as very valuable to you?
 Possessions and the Extended Self
• If possessions are viewed as part of self, it follows that an unintentional loss of
possessions should be regarded as a loss or lessening of self.

• Diminished sense of self when possessions are lost due to theft or casualty.

• A process of grief and mourning may follow the discovery of theft, just as one might
grieve and mourn the death of a loved one who had been a part of one’s life (Rosenblatt,
Walsh, & Jackson, 1976).

• Victims perceive their belongingness as an extension of themselves, so they feel

the loss as a threat to their self-identity, which elicits strong negative emotional
reactions. Possession having high sentimental value and being much more than
functional (Dinisman, 2017).
 Possessions and the Extended Self

Victims of Natural
Disasters (McLeod, 1984)
• Those who lost possessions
to a mudslide went through
a process of grief similar to
that of losing a loved one
• People go through the stages
of denial, anger, depression,
and acceptance.
 Possessions and the Extended Self

The self extended

through the immediate
family.
• When they die, a part of our
very selves is gone.
• What is mourned is loss of
self, as material property is
an extension of the ego, and
any interference with our
property is felt to be a
violation of the person.
 Possessions and the Extended Self

• “cycle of work and spend”

(Schor, 1998) “DESERVE KO ‘TO!”
• Work more to buy more
• Explains the connection between
wealth and well-being.
• The level of consumption is set mainly
by people’s choices about how much to
work, and therefore how much income
to earn.
• The income earned then determines the
level of consumption.
• After working so hard, people feel
deserving of their comforts and
luxuries.
 Special Cases of Extended Self

Collections Pets Body Parts

a. Collections
“I Shop, Therefore I Am”

Belk (1982)
• Humans once primarily assembled collections of
necessities for future security.
• Humans today more often assemble collections of
non-necessities for distinction and self-
definition.
• Collecting has become a significant activity in our
consumer society as it has become more widely
affordable through the discretionary time and
money available to the general population rather
than just to the wealthy elite.
 a. Collections
Goldberg and Lewis (1978)
• Suggested that “Many collectors who
are inhibited and uncomfortable in
social interaction, surround
themselves with favored objects upon
which they project human-like
qualities. They practically talk to these
objects; they find comfort in being
with them and regard them as
friends.”
a. Collections

• A compulsive tendency urges them the increasing desire to collect as much as

they could which gives them a greater feeling of security, and therefore
becoming a basis of the sense of self and identity.
b. Pets as Extended Self
• Pets are regarded commonly as representative of
self.
• Some relationship between personality and choice
of pet does exist.
• Like people, pets are regarded as family members.
• We name our pets, feed and care for them,
photograph them, spend money on them, groom
them, talk to them, protect them, sleep and play
with them, and mourn their death.
• Pets are so instrumental to self-identity that they
are often useful as transition objects (surrogate
parents) for children and as surrogate children for
adults (Levinson, 1972; Robin & Bensel, 1985).
• Pets can be therapeutic.
c. Body Parts
• Body parts are among the most central parts of the
extended self.
• Freud – self-extension is called cathexis (charging
of an object, activity, or idea with emotional energy
by the individual).
• When a body part is more highly cathected, there is
greater use of grooming products to care for this
part of the body.
c. Body Parts
• We are permanently attached to our body parts, these body parts are expected to be
more strongly cathected than material possessions.
• The loss of body parts,. such as loss of limb and amputation, is tantamount to losing
one’s identity and one’s very being (Csikszentimihalyi & Rochberg-Halton, 1981).
 Clothes

Body Parts
Family

House
Material Self
Collections

Wealth /
Money
Others
Pets
Thank You.