UNPACKING

THE SELF: THE

MATERIAL/
ECONOMIC
SELF
Material Self

A person’s tangible possessions like

his/her car, house, clothes, even family
and friends
Material possessions are usually a
reflection of person’s success or failure
Many people work to earn money to
buy basic necessities like food, clothes,
and shelter, and the like

People also spend money to buy

material things that will bring them
comfort, convenience and pleasure
Some people buy things to earn
admiration, praise and recognition
from other people while some buy
things to represent their status in
life

Many people perceive material

things as the extension of their
identities
The attachment of human beings to material
things is influenced by many factors in the
environment and in the present times, is
greatly influenced by the media

Some people think that acquiring material

things is the key in improving their identity
They assume that their
participation in the consumption of
goods and services represent their
material self as their participation
furnishes them a status and role in
society
I SHOP, THEREFORE I AM
I SHOP, THEREFORE I AM

Identities can be reflected on

the possessions that people
have

People regard possessions as

part of themselves
Tuan (1998)
Argues that “our fragile sense of self
needs support, and this we get by having
and possessing things because, to a large
degree, we are what we have and
possess”

This premise regarded possessions are

part of self of a person that is not a new
concept
William James

Said that “a man’s self is the sum total of all that he ca

his, not only his body or psychic powers, but his clothe
and his house, his wife and children, his ancestors and
friends, his reputation and works, his lands, and yacht
and bank account. All these things give him 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.”
If people define possessions as
things, they call theirs, James was
saying that people are the sum of
their possessions.
2 Subclasses of
Material Self
1. The Bodily Self
The components of this is composed
of the intimate parts of the person, it
includes our body aspects such as
physical (arms, head. leg., etc.),
emotional (feelings, desires, etc.),
psychological (intelligence,
cognition, etc.), and moral (values,
beliefs, etc.)
2. The Extracorporeal Self
Also known as the extended
self
It includes the people of great
significance to us (family),
possessions (house, car,
clothes), places that matter to
us, products of our labor (job,
hardwork, etc.)
MATERIAL SELF (WILLIAM JAMES)

Is constituted by our bodies, clothes, immediate

family and home. It is to these things that we are
most deeply affected because of our investments of
self within these things.
The more we invest ourselves in these objects, the
more attached we inevitably we are to them
BODY
Is the innermost part of our material self
Intentionally, we are investing in our body
We strive to make sure that the body
functions well and good (buy food to nourish
and sustain it , vitamins to supplement its
functions well and good, cosmetics that will
enhance it, etc.)
We do have preferential attachment or intimate
closeness to certain body parts because of its
value to us
There are certain people who get parts of their
body insured like renowned football athletes
David Beckam and Cristiano Ronaldo who both
had their legs insured for $70M and $144M
respectively and Jennifer Lopez who insured her
butt amounting $300M
Next to our body are the CLOTHES that we use

Influenced by the “Philosophy of Dress” by Herman Lotze, James

believed that clothing is an essential part of the material self

Lotze in his book Microcusmos, stipulated that “anytime we bring

an object into the surface of our body, we invest in it part of the
self”

The fabric and the style of the clothes we wear bring sensations to
the body, to which we are directly affected through our attitudes and
behaviour
Immediate family (parents and siblings

Hold another great importance to the self

What they do or become affects us
When an immediate family member dies, a part of our
self dies too
When their lives are in success, we feel their victories as
it is our own
In their failures, we are also put to guilt or shame
When they are in disadvantaged
situation, there is an urge within us
to help like a voluntary instinct of
saving one’s self from danger
We see our family as the nearest
replica of our self
Home

Home is where the heart is

Our experience inside the home were recorded and
marked on particular parts and things in our home
As an old cliché goes “if only walls can speak,” thus
the home is an extension of the self because in it we
can directly connect our self.
HOW MUCH
DO WE
VALUE OUR
SELF?
Self-worth and self-value are two
related terms that are often used
interchangeably.

Having a sense of self-worth means

that you value yourself, and having a
sense of self-value means that you are
worhty
Self-worth

Defined by Merriam-Webster as “a feeling that you

are a good person who deserves to be treated with
respect.”

Self-value

More behavioral than emotional, more about how

you act toward what you value, including yourself,
than how you feel about yourself compared to others”
(Stosny, 2014)
Self-worth Theory

Posits that an individual main priority in life is

to find self-acceptance and that self-acceptance
is often found through achievement
(Covington and Beery, 1976). In turn
achievement is often found through
competition with others.
The logical conclusion is that,
competing with others can help us
feel like we have impressive
achievements under our belt,
which then make us feel proud of
ourselves and enhances our
acceptance of ourselves.
Self-worth

Determined mostly by our self-

evaluated abilities and our
performance in one or more
activities that we deem valuable
5 Yardsticks In Measuring Self-worth

1.Appearance
Whether measured by the
number on the scale, the size
of clothing worn, or the kind
of attention received by
others
2. Net Worth
this can mean income,
material possessions,
financial assets, or all of the
above
3.Who you know/ Social Circle

Some people judge their own

value and the value of others by
their status and what important
and influential people they
know
4.What you do/ your career

We often judge others by what

they do ; for example a
stockbroker is often considered
more successful and valuable
than a janitor or a teacher.
5.What you achieve

As noted earlier, we frequently use

achievements to determine someone’s
worth (whether its our own worth or
someone else’s), such as success in
business, scores on the SATs, or
placement in a marathon or other
athletic challenge (Morin, 2017)
“We cannot think of being
acceptable to others until we
have first proven acceptable to
ourselves.”
-Malcolm X
SELF
IDENTITY
AND
CONSUMER
CULTURE
Consumer researchers have recognized for a long time
that people consume in ways that are consistent with
their sense of self (Levy 1959).

Important thought leaders in our field have described and

documented that consumers use possessions and brands
to create their self-identities and communicate these
selves to others and to themselves (e.g., Belk 1988,
Fdournier 1998; McCracken 1989)
On increasingly powerful context in which
individuals construct and express their identities is
the material and consumer culture we live in.
Having the ‘right’ material good has become vital
to many, not so much because of these goods
themselves, but because of hoped-for
psychological social image, and achieving positive
emotional states. Having, buying, and desiring
material goods has a profound impact on
individuals’ identities and their weel-being
(Dittmar, 2008)
Previous studies have emphasized
the significance self-concept and
consumer preference, as purchases
made by consumers were directly
influenced by the image individuals
had of themselves (Onkivist &
Shaw, 1987).
Self Image Congruity (Sirgy, 1982)

Also referred to as product-image

congruity
The process of consumers purchasing
products/brands that they perceived as
possessing symbolic images similar to
the image they hold to themselves
This theory postulated that that products and brands
have symbolic meanings and display certain images.
Consumers’ choices to purchase, display, and use the
products or brands helped them communicate the
symbolic meaning to themselves as well as to others.
Thus, the greater the congruity between human
characteristics that exhibit consumers’ senses of self and
the characteristics that depicted a brand, the greater the
consumers’ preferences were for the brand (Sung, Choi
& Tinkman, 2012)
Purchase can be the consumer’s self-concept
or identity

6 Components of the “I”

a.Bodies
b.Values and character
c.Successes and competence
d.Social roles
e.Traits
f.possessions
If a person had to invest a lot of resources (money, time,
energy) finding and selecting a product, then to
psychologically justify that kind of investment, people tend to
view that product as part of their extended self.

For this reason, more expensive purchases, and purchases for

which they have saved for a long time are more likely to
become part of the extended self
A product can relate to one’s self in
2 ways:

1.By being instrumental to

enhancing their self sans
possessions
2.By becoming valued possession