MATERIAL SELF

• The material self, according to William James, pertains to the objects, places, or even people which have
the label “mine”.

Such possessions are viewed as extensions of individuals' identities. For instance, your clothes reflect
certain aspects of your personality and you designate them as “my wardrobe”. Possessions are state of
having, owning, or controlling something and it is also viewed as the extensions of individuals’ identities for
it reflects something about our self.

The sum total of all that he can call his, not only his body and his psychic powers, bit his clothes and his
house, his wife and children, his ancestors and friends, his reputation and works, his lands, and bank
account.

Such possessions are viewed as extensions of individuals' identities.

Our material Self reflects not only the objects or personal things that we have or acquire but it also
includes the places and even the people as such our family and friends which we have the label as
“mine” or our personal possessions

• All these things give him the same emotions. If they wax and prosper, he feels triumphant; if they
dwindle and die away, he feels cast down-not necessarily in the same degree for each thing, but in
much the same way for all”

COMPONENTS OF THE MATERIAL SELF

1. BODY - The basic component of the Material Self includes the body.

 Perceptions about what makes a body beautiful are usually influenced by media as

shown in television and internet.

 One of the tasks of adolescents is that of accepting and appreciating the physical
characteristics of their body.

William James identified the body as the innermost aspect of the material self. Also, you perceive
certain body parts as more private or intimately yours as compared to the others.

2. CLOTHING

Clothes represent the self.

For instance, your clothes reflect certain aspects of your personality and you designate them as “my
wardrobe”

 The clothes that adolescents tend to wear are greatly influenced by their peer groups.
Members of a peer group have a profound effect on buying decisions and sense of style.

In addition to affecting consumer decisions, peer discussions and reviews also can sway the
decisions of members of the apparel industry.

If your peers tell you that your shirt is ugly, you may actually believe them and stop wearing that
shirt. Now if you Try to tell your friends and family that they look very stylish. This will give
them confidence

3. FAMILY

- The material component of the self also includes people such as immediate and extended

family members (my family) as well as close friends (my friends) that the person feels psychologically
connected. These people are likely to shape and influence the development of self and identity.

- Our family has a great important part of our self.

What they DO or BECOME affects us. When a family member dies, a part of our self also dies. When they
achieve success, we feel their victories. In their failures, we are put to shame or guilt. When they are in
the disadvantage, we feel an urgent urge to volunteer and offer help as if saving one’s life from danger. We
see them as the nearest REPLICA of our self.

4. PLACES

-The material component of the self also includes the places such as your HOME or workplace.

- it is where many aspects of your life have been developed, it is where you feel most comfortable, and it is
greatly linked to your identity

-Home is the earliest nest of our Selfhood. Home is where the Heart is. Our experiences inside the home
were recorded and marked on particular parts and things in our home.

It is an extension of self, in it, we can directly connect our self.

5. Some cases of extended Self

A person’s pet could also symbolically define a person’s identity.

MATERIAL POSSESSION

-Possessions can be used as status symbol.

-The more expensive, the more other people are impressed.

-The objects or material things help make/build a person and also shows what kind of person he/she is.

-Things such as clothes, dress, caps and shades does not on protect us from extreme external temperature.
But also help us in improving our self-esteem, confidence and our self-image.
-Belk in his work on Are We What We Own?, suggests that material possession act as an objective
manifestation of the self.

Material Possessions can be a reflection of hard work and success.

-By our hard work and success, we may be able to acquire properties and possessions that that we needed or
wanted.

-Owning material possessions becomes a driving force, urging the person to seek high level of achievement.

-Defining the self by material possession can also contribute to feelings of well-beings, including a sense of
personal growth and purpose or meaning in life.

People tend to appraise other people through their material possession.

-Thus, the greater the material possessions, the more one is likely to attain acceptance, approval, and esteem
from other people. That is why, some people strive very hard to acquire material things.

Materialism is the importance people give on material possession.

-Someone with a high level of materialism is called materialistic. The desire for material possessions also
has negative effects.

A materialistic person is excessively concerned with the acquisition of material possessions.

-Exposure to Mass Media greatly influenced what we want. Placing ads on social media has become
simple to set up and yet targeting has become much more detailed. Advertising on social media allows
marketers to lead users into the “awareness” stage, and all the way through to the “buy” phase.

-Lack or loss of material possessions could lead to anxiety, insecurity, and depression.

Loss of material possessions can be disruptive to our mental health. For instance, during calamities,
people who lost their homes, businesses, loved ones, pets and others things may experience
emotional and psychological problems.

--Moreover, even if without calamities, we experience being emotionally disturbed whenever we lost
something important to us. For instance, what would you feel if you lose your cellphones?

Material self-presentation and Identity

One’s possessions are perceived as personal choices that define people to a certain extent.

These personal choices build one’s material and economic self which is an extension of his or her social
identity.

WANTS or NEEDS?

•Needs are important for survival

•Wants are synonymous to luxuries. People buy them for reasons that do not warrant necessity.

• Thus, one’s sense of self and identity is influential on how an individual chooses to purchase his
or her wants and how he or she makes economic decisions that will address his or her personal and
social needs.

The self in a Material World

“People are likely to purchase products that can relate to their personality”

-People sometimes purchase items to build how they want to be perceived by others.

Clothes may be a necessity, but people who have the capacity choose brands and styles to project
their identity for other people to see.

SYMBOLIC MOTIVES

1. Status- the extent to which people believe they can derive a sense of recognition or achievement
from owning and using the right kind of product. Status, may increase consumption and can motivate
behaviour (e.g. one will buy a flat screen TV of a known brand, with latest features because its more
expansive than other brands)

2. Affective Motives – a concept used in Environmental Psychology. Affect (emotions) serves as a

motivator of pro-environmental behavior. In relation to the economic self, affective motive, can be a
basis of the buying behavior. Thus using affective motive: people buy the goods not only because
they think they need it but more so because of the joy/happiness (affect) buying the goods provide
through the mere acquisition of it.

-The strong desire for material possessions could lead to psychological dysfunction or impairment in
functioning such as compulsive buying disorder (CBD) which is characterized by an obsession with
shopping and buying behaviors that causes adverse consequences, e.g. debts.

-Because of it, we are able to freely express ‘who’ and ‘what’ we think we are from the inside. But having
all this material things has also a negative effect especially , when you get addicted in collecting more and
more material things.

Some people buy more of things to satisfy their desires that are not met.

Two Things to be considered in acquiring material goods.

1. Utility – is concerned with how things serve a practical purpose.

2. Significance – is concerned with the meaning assigned to the object. It is also concerned with how
the objects become powerful symbol or icons of habit ritual.

Consumerism as a lifestyle

• Consumers are often viewed as victims of greedy companies. But, take note that everyone has free will
REFERENCES:

Green, Christopher D. Classics in the History of Psychology. Retrieved from

https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/Principles/prin10.htm

Retrieved from https://faculty.washington.edu/jdb/452/452_chapter_02.pdf

Retrieved from http://www.pearsoned.ca/highered/showcase/beebe/pdf/samplechapter_2.pd

https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/central-mindanao-university/understanding-the-self/material-self/
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