Lesson 2: To Buy or Not to

Buy? That Is the Question!

U N D E R S TA N D I N G T H E S E L F
C H A P T E R I I : U N PA C K I N G T H E S E L F
Lesson Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you
should be able to:
• 1. explain the association of self
and possessions;
• 2. identify the role of consumer
culture to self and identity; and
• 3. appraise one's self based on
the description of material self.
INTRODUCTION
• We are living in a world of sale and shopping spree. We
are given a wide array of products to purchase from a
simple set of spoon and fork to owning restaurant.
Almost everywhere, including the digital space, we can
find promotions of product purchase. Product
advertisements are suggestive of making us feel better or
look good. Part of us wants to have that product. What
makes us want have those products are connected with
who we are. What we want to have and already possess
is related to our self.
• Belk (1988) stated that "we regard our possessions as
parts of our self. We are what we have and what we
possess." There is a direct link between self-identity
with what we have and possess. Our wanting to have
and possess ha connection with another aspect of the
self, the material self.
• Let us try to examine ourselves further in the lens of
material self.
ACTIVITY
Debit Card Challenge
• A very wealthy person gave you a debit card and told you to use it as
much as you want to make yourself happy. What are you going to do
with it? Make a list of what you want to have. Write as many as you
want.
Answer the following questions:
• 1. How do you feel as you do the Debit Card Challenge?
• 2. Which among the items in your list you like the most? Why?
• 3. If ever you were given the chance in real life to have one among
the list, which would you choose? Why?
• 4. Does your choice different from what you answer in question
number 2? Why or why not?
• 5. Let your classmate read your list. Ask her/him to give or write a
quick impression of yourself based on the list you showed him/her.
• 6. Is the quick impression of your classmate has some truth about who
you are?
ABSTRACTION
Material Self
• A Harvard psychologist in the late nineteenth century,
William James, wrote in his book, The Principles of
Psychology in 1890 that understanding the self can be
examined through its different components. He
described these components as: (1) its constituents; (2)
the feelings and emotions they arouse self-feelings;
• (3) the actions to which they prompt—self-seeking and
self-preservation. The constituents of self are composed
of the material self, the social self, the spiritual self and
the pure ego. (Trentmann 2016; Green 1997)
Material Self Investment Diagram
The material self,
according to James primarily is
about our bodies, clothes,
immediate family, and home.
We are deeply affected by these
things because we have put
much investment of our self to
them.
Body
• The innermost part of our material self is our
body. Intentionally, we are investing in our body.
We are directly attached to this commodity that
we cannot live without. We strive hard to make
sure that this body functions well and good. Any
ailment or disorder directly affects us. We do
have certain preferential attachment or intimate
closeness to certain body parts because of its
value to us.
• There were people who get their certain body
parts insured. Celebrities, like Mariah Carey who
was reported to have placed a huge amount for
the insurance of her vocal cords and legs
(Sukman 2016).
Clothes
• Next to our body are the clothes we use.
Influenced by the "Philosophy of
Dress" by Herman Lotze, James
believed that clothing is an essential
part of the material self. Lotze in his
book, Microcosmus, stipulates that "any
time we bring an object into the surface
of our body, we invest that object into
the consciousness of our personal
existence taking in its contours to be
our own and making it part of the self."
(Watson 2014) The fabric and style of
the clothes we wear bring sensations to
the body to which directly affect our
Immediate Family
• Third in the hierarchy is our immediate
family. Our parents and siblings hold
another great important part of our self.
What they do or become affects us.
When an immediate family member
dies, part of our self dies, too. When
their lives are in success, we feel their
victories as if we are the one holding
the trophy. In their failures, we are put
to shame or guilt. When they are in
disadvantage situation, there is an
urgent urge to help like a voluntary
Home
• The fourth component of material self is our home.
Home is where our heart is. It is the earliest nest of
our selfhood. Our experiences inside the home
were recorded and marked on particular parts and
things in our home. There was an old cliché about
rooms: "if only walls can speak." The home thus is
an extension of self, because in it, we can directly
connect our self.
• Having investment of self to things, made us
attached to those things. The more investment of
self-given to the particular thing, the more we
identify ourselves to it. We also tended to collect
and possess properties. The collections in different
degree of investment of self, becomes part of the
self. As James (1890) described self: "a man's self
 We Are What We Have
• Russel Belk (1988) posits that "...we regard our possessions as part of ourselves. We are what we have and
what we posses." The identification of the self to things started in our infancy stage when we make a distinction
among self and environment and others who may desire our possessions. As we grow older, putting importance
to material possession decreases.
• However, material possession gains higher value in our lifetime if we use material possession to find happiness,
associate these things with significant events, accomplishments, and people in our lives. There are even times,
when material possession of a person that is closely identified to the person, gains acknowledgment with high
regard even if the person already passed away. Examples of these are the chair in the dining room on which the
person is always seated, the chair will be the constant reminder of the person seated there; a well-loved and
kept vehicle of the person, which some of the bereaved family members have a difficulty to sell or let go of
because that vehicle is very much identified with the owner who passed away; the favorite pet or book, among
others that the owner placed a high value, these favorite things are symbols of the owner. The possessions that
we dearly have tell something about who we are, our self-concept, our past, and even our future.
APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT
Debit Card Challenge List
1. Go back to your Debit Card Challenge List. Put a mark on the left side of each
item with the following categories:
B - if the item is related with your body
C - if the item is related with clothes
F - if the item is related or intended to your family
H - if the item is related with home
2. Answer the following questions:
• • Which among the categories you have the most in your list?
• • What do you think these things tell you about yourself?
3. Make a reflection paper about material self. You may use your answers from
the above questions in making your paper.
Collage Making
• Create a collage of your treasured possessions including your current clothing
style. You may use symbols or pictures of your treasured possessions.
• Put a short note why you treasure each item.