MATERIAL

SELF: TO BUY
OR NOT TO
BUY?
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At the end of the lesson, you will

be able to:
➜ Explain the association of self and
possessions.
➜ Identify the role of consumer culture to self
and identity;
➜ Appraise oneself based on the description
of the material self.
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William James
Principles of Psychology (1890)
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CONSTUENTS OF SELF
The self can be examined through its different
components namely:
1] its constituents.
- Material self
- Social self
- Spiritual self, and
- Pure ego
2] the feelings and emotions they aroused self-feelings.
3] the actions for which they prompt the seeking and self-
preservation
 MATERIAL SELF
The material self pertains to the
objects, places, or even people
which have the label “mine”.
Such possessions are viewed as
extensions of individuals'
identities
MATERIAL SELF INVESTMENT DIAGRAM 6

Home

Immediate
Family

Clothes

Body
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BODY
➜ is the innermost part of the material self.
➜ You are directly attached to this commodity
that you cannot live without it.
➜ You strive hard to make sure that this body
functions well and generously.
➜ An example is Mariah Carey; she was reported
to have placed a considerable amount for her
vocal cords and legs insurance.
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CLOTHES
➜ next to the body that was being influenced by
"the philosophy of dress" by Herman Lotze.
➜ an essential part of the material self is
clothing.
➜ Lotze stipulated in his book that any time you
bring an object into the surface of your body,
you invest that object into any consciousness
of your existence, taking in its contours to be
your own and making it part of the self.
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IMMEDIATE FAMILY
➜ is the third in the hierarchy.
➜ Your parents and siblings hold another hugely
important part of yourself.
➜ What they do or become affects you.
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HOME
➜ fourth component of the material self
➜ It is where your heart is and the earliest nest of
your selfhood.
➜ Your experience inside the home was recorded
and marked on parts and things in your home.
➜ There was an old cliché about rooms: "If only
walls can speak."
➜ The home thus is an extension of self because,
in it, you can directly connect yourself.
 “
11

"… we regard our

possessions as part of our
selves. We are what we
have and what we
possess."
- Russel Belk (1988)