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To Buy or Not To Buy? That Is The Question!: Lesson 2
To Buy or Not To Buy? That Is The Question!: Lesson 2
• William James, a Harvard psychologist in the late 19th century, wrote his
book, The Principles of Psychology in 1980 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
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
According to James, primarily is about our bodies, clothes, immediate
family, and home. We are also deeply affected by these things because we have
put much investment to our self to them.
BODY – the innermost part of our material self. We are directly attached to
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 like the
celebrity Mariah Carey who was reported to have placed a huge amount for the
insurance of her vocal cords and legs (Sukman 2016).