GEC 101: A powerpoint presentation about the material and economic self

1. The Material and
Economic Self
Understanding the Self
GROUP 3

2. What is
Materialistic or
Economic Self?

3. William
James

4. 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.”
If they grew, their owner felt
triumphant. If they faded,
people felt a part of
themselves was dying.
(Trentman, 2016)

5. Think of your material self as
that of 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
also to decorate the self.
All the physical
elements that reflect
who a person is, maybe
possessions, cars,
home, body, clothes,
are part of the material
self.

6. Curtis (2017) manifested that
cash can have serious bearing
on one’s belief regarding the
way a person views
himself/herself.
Psychologist 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
economic circumstances are
(Greogoire, 2014)

7. Evidences Behind the Idea
that Money truly can
Change People

8. A. 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 offered as the motivation,
however, people then start thinking
less of the social aspect and more
about the business value.

9. B. 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.

10. It only means that money-
conscious individuals are more self-
sufficient than their peers,
particularly when money is made
the focus.

11. C. 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 identity and genetics
,rather than circumstance.
Poor people tend to believe that
social class was not related to
genes, that essentially, anyone can
be rich and anyone can be poor.

12. D. ETHICS
OThose who perceive themselves to be
in higher class where the most likely to
engage in unethical behavior,
particularly when a symbol of wealth
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 likely to take a “what’s in it for
me?” attitude. They actively work toward
the most benefit for themselves (Piff,
2012).

13. E. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. They are reissued 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.

17. 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).

18. SPECIAL CASES OF EXTERNAL SELF
Collections ("I Shop, 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.
Belk (1892)
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.
Mason (1981)
Collecting has become a significant
activity in our consumer society as it has
become more widely affordable though
the discretionary time and money
available to the general population
rather than just to the wealthy elite.
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".

19. In these 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 them 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"

20. 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).
PETS AS EXTENDED SELF

21. 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.

22. BODY PARTS
Body parts are among the most central parts of the extended self.
In psychoanalytical 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.

23. 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 impluse of collecting proprerty.

24. Materialism refers to the theory or belief
that nothing exist except 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.

25. 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)

26. Thank you..
GONZALES
GONZALES
MANGUERRA
MANGUERRA
MALLILLIN
MALLILLIN