Module 7: Material Self

• Material self


  A person's tangible possessions (car, house, clothes, family and friends)
• People will always strive to acquire more material possessions because they are a reflection of a person's success or failure
• Material self


  • Includes our body, as well as the tangible objects, places, things that we describe as "My", or "Mine"
  • Dimensions of the self that relates to physical materials
• 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
• Tuan (1998): '"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."'
• William James: '"a man's self is the sum total of all that he can call his, not only his body and psychic powers, but his clothes 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 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."'
• 2 Sub-classes of Material Self

  • The Bodily Self: The components of this are composed of the intimate parts of the person, it includes our body's aspects such as physical (arms head, legs etc.), emotional (feelings, desires etc.), psychological (intelligence, cognition etc.) and moral (values, beliefs etc.)
  • The Extracorporeal Self: ("beyond our body") 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, handworks etc.)
• The material self is constituted by our bodies, clothes, immediate family and home
• The innermost part of our material self is our body


  We are directly attached to this commodity that we cannot live without. We strive to make sure that the body functions well and good.
• Clothes


  An essential part of the material self. The fabric and style of the clothes we wear bring sensations to the body, to which we are directly affected through our attitudes and behaviors.
• Immediate family


  Hold great importance to the self. What they do or become affects us. When an immediate family member dies, a part of ourself-dies too. When their lives are in success, we feel their victories as is it was our own. In their failures, we are also put to shame or guilt.
• Home


  An extension of the self because, in it we can directly connect our self.
• Jean-Paul Sartre noted three ways through which we connect with objects.

  • Controlling an object, like learning to ride a bike
  • Creating or buying an object
  • Knowing about something
• The connection of the self to the material world develops and changes over time. According to Russel Belk (1988) there could be four stages:

  
  

  • The infant distinguishes self from environment; "whoever gets something first is its owner (finders keepers)"; child finds toy and doesnt want to let go
  • The infant distinguishes self from others
  • Possessions help adolescents and adults manage their identities
  • Possessions help the old persons have a sense of continuity and preparation for death
• Russel Belk: Our material & economic self is an expression of our personality & a revelation of our social identity
•  Influence by the “Philosophy of Dress” by Herman Lotze, James believed that clothing is an essential part of the material self.