Module 3: The Material Self

TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY? THAT IS THE QUESTION

Excerpt from Alata, (2018)

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 the 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 a restaurant. Almost everywhere
including the digital space, we can find
promotions of products purchase. Product
advertisements are suggestive of making us want
to 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 selves. 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 has a 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 man as you want.
LIST OF THE THINGS YOU WANT TO BUY TO MAKE YOURSELF HAPPY

ANALYSIS
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?

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3. If ever you were given the chance in real life
to have one among the list, which would you
choose? Why?
4. Is your choice different from what you
answer in question number 2? Why or why
not?
5. Let someone in your household or a friend
read your list. Ask him/her to give or write a
quick impression of yourself based on the list
you showed.
6. Is the quick impression of your family member or friend 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 the understanding the self can be examined through its
different components. He described these components. He described these components as: (1) its
constituents; (2) the feelings and emotions they arouse – self-feelings; (3) actions to which they
prompt – self-seeking and self-preservation. The constituents of self are composed of the
materials self, the social self, the spiritual self and the pure ego (Trentmann 2016; Green 1997).
The material self, according to James primarily 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.

Home
Immediate Family
Clothes
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 o 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).

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Next to our body are the clothes we use. Influenced by the “Philosophy of Dress” by Herman
Lotse, 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”(Watsons 2014). The fabric and style of the clothes
we wear brings sensations to the body which directly
affect our attitudes and behavior. Thus, clothes are placed
in the second hierarchy of material self. Clothing is a
forms of self-expression. We choose and wear clothes that
reflect our self (Watsons 2014).
Third in the hierarchy is our immediate family. Our parent and sibling 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, die 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 instinct of saving one’s
self from danger. We place huge investment in our immediate family when we see them as the
nearest replica of our self.

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 thing 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 is the sum total of all what he CAN call
his.” Possessions then become a part or an extension of the self.

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WE ARE WHAT WE HAVE
Ruseel belk (1988) posits that “…we regard our possession as
part of ourselves. We are what we have and what we possess.”
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 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

Watch the movie “Confessions of a Shopaholic”, an American romantic comedy directed

by P.J. Hogan. After watching, make a reflection paper about the movie and relate it
with our lesson.
Attach your output in our Google Classroom in the Classwork labelled ACTIVITY FOR
MATERIAL SELF.
Note: Please do not copy your work on the internet.

Reference:
Alata, et. al. (2018). Understanding the Self. To buy or not to buy? That is the question!
First Edition. pg. 64-69. Rex Bookstore.

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