THE MATERIAL AND ECONOMIC SELF NEEDS vs.

WANTS
▪ Because of the pressure of consumerism our
1. Wants – refer to luxuries
material self struggles between what we need
2. Needs – important things for survival and what we wants.

▪ Utility – concerned with how things serve a ▪ Due to Material Self we tend to give in to wants
practical purpose and not our needs.

▪ Significance – concerned with the meaning

assigned to the object
FUNCTIONS OF POSSESSIONS
▪ Possessions can go beyond their functional
value.
MATERIALISM ➢ Influence
▪ The importance a consumer attaches to worldly ➢ Power
possessions. ➢ Sympathy
➢ Social status
➢ Emotions
THE MATERIAL SELF
▪ refers to tangible objects, people, or places that Possessions as Symbolic Expressions of Identity
carry the designation “my or mine” ▪ Symbolic Communication Model
➢ There’s an observation that one’s possessions
▪ According to, it is centered on the physical
are considered a part of oneself. They are
body, with emphasis on one’s material
symbols and extensions of the personal and
possession (clothes, jewelries, cellphones etc.)
social aspects of her identity/personhood.

➢ Possession help people define themselves.

THEORY OF MEANING OF MATERIAL POSSESSIONS
➢ Possessions can enhance one’s image and
(Dittmar, 1992)
develop a positive sense of self.
➢ suggests that material goods can fulfill a range
of instrumental, social, symbolic and affective ➢ It can be a reassurance that one is the person
functions. one’s wishes to be.

➢ Goods and possessions are used to fill in or to

compensate for the person lacks.
CONSUMERISM CULTURE
▪ “HURRY! BUY MORE STUFF!”
▪ The act of consumption is based on culture,
CONSPICIOUS CONSUMPTION
with mass media’s influence is normalized in a
▪ Consumers own high-priced, status-oriented
given society.
goods to impress others and to convince them
▪ Usually use the signs and symbols and
of their high social status.
manipulations of their meanings.
▪ Effects:
➢ It affects our identity formation, as our
material possessions and preferred
lifestyles slowly become extensions of
who we are
➢ It affects our behavior in relation to
consumer goods
POSSESSIONS AND SELF-IDENTITY
➢ For some, possessions become the symbolic
components of self-identity (e.g. success,
important relationships, etc.) and consider
possessions as their meaning in life. When these
symbolic components are destroyed or loss, an
aspect of self is also destroyed which can result
to negative reactions.

➢ According to Burris & Rempel (2004), the more

a possession symbolically represents the self,
the greater the negative reactions experienced
if it is lost.

POSSESSIONS AS UNSTABLE MEANINGS

➢ Meaning is in a constant state of flux.

➢ Cultural categories of person that help shape

identity are subject to constant manipulation by
individuals, social groups, and marketing agents.

➢ Meanings of objects that are used to make

visible and stabilize the categories of culture are
also subject to frequent change through their
appropriation in advertising, in television
programming, and among social subgroups.

Ex. A teenager who has just purchased his snowboard,

the youthful, extreme sports image of snowboarding
may soon fade as more people over 40 take up the
sport.

PETS AS EXTENSIONS/SYMBOLS OF THE SELF

➢ Pets have become parts of the extended self.

Pets belong to the top 5 possessions.

➢ Positive relationship between self-esteem and

owning pets (Covert et al, 1985)

➢ The dog as “co-therapist” (Levinson, 1962)