UTS - BEED 1

THE MATERIAL AND

ECONOMIC SELF
ARELLANO, CARAGATAN, CASTRO, DABON, LARANJO, OGANG, PARAISO, SALA, TRASMONTE, VERGARA
what is materialistic or
economic self?
WILLIAM JAMES
According to William James wrote in 1890 stated that “A
man’s self is the sum total of all that he can call his”. This
included his body, family and reputation but also his
“clothes and his house, his lands and horses, and yacht and
bank account.”
A man’s Self is the sum total of all
that he can call his, not only his
body and his psychic powers, but
his clothes and his house.

-William James
• If they grew, their owner felt triumphant. If they faded, people felt a
part of themselves was dying (Trentman, 2016)
• All the physical elements that reflect who a person is, maybe
possessions, cars, home, body, clothes, are part of the material self.
• Think of your material self as that what you are clothed of, what
interests you or are passionate about, what you spend for.
• The material self craves for clothes not only to cover the essential
parts of the body, but able to decorate the self.
• Psychologists who study the impact of wealth and inequality on
human behavior have found that money can powerfully influence our
thoughts and actions in ways that we’re often not aware of, no matter
what circumstances are (Gregoire, 2014)
• Curtis (2017) manifested that cash can have serious bearing on one’s
belief regarding the way a person views himself/herself.
EVIDENCES BEHIND THE IDEA
THAT MONEY TRULY CAN
CHANGE PEOPLE
social and business value
Heyman and Ariely (2004) surmised that there are two motivations for completing a given task. The first is
social. By recognizing a task’s social value, a person sees it as a worthy investment of time and part of his/her
social duty, and he/she is usually happy to help out. When money is offers as the motivation, however, people
then start thinking less of the social aspect and more about the business value.
self-sufficiency and service
Those who are conscious of money typically strive to be more self-sufficient than those for
whom money isn’t a priority.

When given a very difficult and even impossible task, with instructions that help was
available, it was the money-related group that seemed the most intent on getting the job
done alone, even it was not possible to finish the task solo.

It only means that money:

conscious individuals are more self-sufficient than their peers,
particularly when money is made the focus
self-view
The amount one earns could have an effect on how he/she view both himself/herself and others.

Class Essentialism - the idea that differences between classes are based upon idenity and genetics,
rather than circumstance

People tend to believe that social class was not related to genes, that essentially, anyone can be rich
and anyone can be poor.
 ethics
• Those who perceive themselves to be in higher class where
the most likely to engage in unethical behavior, particularly
when a symbol of health was introduced, such as cutting off
a pedestrian when a luxury car, for example.
• Piff in his study labeled the behavior, “self-interest
maximization,” an idea that suggest those who have the
most money or occupy higher classes are more likley to
take a “what’s in it for me?” attitude. They actively work
toward the most benefit for themselves (Piff, 2012)
addiction
The fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity. Many addictions begins
because a person gets a positive response from a certain type of behavior.

• a compulsive behavior nor motivated by dependency on an addictive substance, but rather by a

process that leads to a seemingly positive outcome. This is called behavioral or process addiction.
POSSESSIONS AND THE
EXTENDED SELF
• The premise that people regard their possessions are parts of
themselves is not new. If possessions are viewed as part of self, it
follows that an unintentional loss or lessening of self.
• One of the first steps in receiving new members into these institutions
is to systematically deprive them of all personal possessions
including clothing, money, and even names.
• Their bodies may be standardized to some degree, as with military
haircuts, and their behaviors and conservations may be severely
restricted.
• They are released standard wardrobes and minimal possessions to aid
in rebuilding a new standardized identity.
• Another instance in which no voluntary loss of possession may bring
about a diminished sense of self is when possessions are lost due to
theft or casualty.
• There is a connection between wealth and well being. A belief that
feeds what JULIET SCHOR (1998) calls the ‘cycle of work and
spend’ - work more to buy more.
• The level of consumption is set mainly by people’s choices about
how much to work, and therefore how much income to earn.
• The individual chooses between hours at work (which yield income)
and leisure (a “good” in itself, but a costly one because it entails
foregoing income).
SPECIAL CASES OF
EXTERNAL SELF
special cases of external self
Collections (“I shope, Therefore I am”) Collections of this sort may be initiated by gifts or other
unintended acquisitions, but the cultivation of a collection is a purposeful self-defining act.

• Mason (1981) - collecting has become a significant activity in our consumer society as it has become
more widely affordable through the discretionary time and money available to the general population
rather than just to the wealthy elite.

• Belk (1982) - humans and animals once primarily assembled collections of necessities for future
security, but today humans more often assemble collections of non-necessities for distinction and self
definition.

• Goldberg and Lewis (1978) -” many collectors who are inhibited and uncomfortable in social
interaction, surround themselves with favored objects upon which they project human like qualities.
They practically talk to these objects; they find comfort in being with them regard them as friends”
• In this sense, collections may be seen as transition objects or security blankets for adults.

• To some extent, a compulsive tendency urges them the increasing desire to collect as much as they
could which gives the, a greater feeling of security, and therefore becoming a basis of the sense of self
and identity-”I shop, therefore I am; I have, therefore, I am”
pets as extended self
• Pets are regarded commonly as representative of self and studies show that
we attempt to infer characteristics of people from their pets (Foote 1956;
Heiman 1967)
• Others have observed that, like people, pets are regarded as family members
(e.g., Cain 1985; Friedmann and Thomas 1985; Hickord and Schmitt 1982;
Rochberg-Halton 1985; Wallendorfand Belk 1987).
• In this regard, it is significant that we name our pets, feed and care for them,
photograph them, spend money on them, and mourn their death (Hickrod and
Schmitt 1982; Meer 1984)
• Levinson (1972) and Robin Bensel (1985) found that pets are so instrumental
to self-identity that they are often useful as transition objects (surrogate
parents) for children and as surrogate children for adults.
body parts
• Body parts are among the most central parts of the extended self.

• In psychoanalytic terms, such self-extension is called cathexis. Cathexis involves the charging of
an object, activity, or idea with emotional energy to the individual.

• The most commonly has been applied to body parts and it is known, for instance, the women
generally tend to cathect body parts to a greater than men and that such cathexis reflects self-
acceptance.

• When a body part is more highly cathected, there is greater use grooming products to care for
this part of the body.

• Csikszentimihalyi and Rochberg-Halton (1981) proposed the seemingly identical concept of

psychic energy investment to describe the process of identification with possessions of any type.
• Since we are permanently attached to our body parts, these body parts are expected to be more strongly cathected
than material possessions that can be more easily acquired and discarded.

• The material self refers to all of the physical elements that reflect who a person is which included his/her body,
possessions and home. The body is the innermost part of the material.

• The family, home, and clothes also form a person’s material self.

• Furthermore, practical interest of a person is part of his/her material self which include the instinctive impulse of
collecting property.
• Materialism refers to the theory belief that nothing exist except better matter, its movements and modifications; the
theory or belief that consciousness and will are wholly due to material agency; a tendency to consider material
possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.

• A person is define not by what he thinks, but by what he owns.

• Shopping is an expressive and constitutive existential act. (Kruger)

• Understanding shopping is important in determining race and culture, gender, class, family, and community. (Belk,
2016)