CORRESPONDENCE LEARNING MODULE

PDEV 1013: Understanding the Self

AY 2024-2025
Lesson 2: Unpacking The Self

Topic: The Material/Economic Self

Learning Outcomes: At the end of this module, you are expected to:

At the end of this learning module, the student is expected to:

1. Identify personal factors that affect purchasing behavior
2. Explain how consumer culture shapes one's identity
3. Examine how personal things act as an extension of the self

Weekly Timetable
Date Topics Activities or Tasks
Material/Economic Self Read the topic on Material Self
Completion of learning tasks
Return module

INTRODUCTION

MATERIAL SELF
A man’s self is the sum total of what he can call his (James, 1980)

CHAPTER X, The Consciousness of Self (A) THE EMPIRICAL SELF OR ME, The
Principles of Psychology (JAMES, 1890)

The body is the innermost part of the material Self in each of us; and certain
parts of the body seem more intimately ours than the rest.
Body
The clothes come next. The old saying that the human person is composed of
three parts - soul, body and clothes - is more than a joke. We so appropriate our
clothes and identify ourselves with them that there are few of us who, if asked to
Clothes choose between having a beautiful body clad in raiment perpetually shabby and
unclean, and having an ugly and blemished form always spotlessly attired, would
not hesitate a moment before making a decisive reply.

Immediate family Next, our immediate family is a part of ourselves. Our father and mother, our wife
and babes, are bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. When they die, a part of
our very selves is gone. If they do anything wrong, it is our shame. If they are
insulted, our anger flashes forth as readily as if we stood in their place.
Home
Our home comes next. Its scenes are part of our life; its aspects awaken the
tenderest feelings of affection; and we do not easily forgive the stranger who, in
visiting it, finds fault with its arrangements or treats it with contempt. All these
different things are the objects of instinctive preferences coupled with the most
important practical interests of life. We all have a blind impulse to watch over our
body, to deck it with clothing of [p. 293] an ornamental sort, to cherish parents,
 wife and babes, and to find for ourselves a home of our own which we may live in
and 'improve.'
EVIDENCES BEHIND THE IDEA THAT MONEY TRULY CAN CHANGE
PEOPLE
Lifted from Understanding the Self by Villafuerte, S., Quilope, A., Tunac, R. and Borja, E. (2018)
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 our
circumstances are (Greogoire, 2014)

Curtis (2017) manifested that cash can have serious bearing on one’s belief regarding the way a person views
himself/herself. The following are evidences of such idea.

A. Social and Business Value

 By recognizing a task’s social value a person sees it as a worthy investment of time and a 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 sat thinking less of the social aspect and more about the business
value.

For example, if a relative asked you to baby-sit their kids or tend the elderly for few hours, you may
be more motivated to do so when you will receive more in exchange of your service. You may even
be more enthusiastic the next time around. However, if you will be paid less or think that you will not
gain from the activity, then you are more likely to give alibis and excuses.

B. Self Sufficiency and Service

 Those who are conscious of money typical strive to be more self-sufficient than those for whom
money isn’t a priority. In a research that was conducted, it was found that when given a very difficult
and even impossible task, with instructions that help was available, it was the money-related group
that seems the most intent on getting the job done alone, even when 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.

C. Self-view
 The wealthiest people are those with the deepest sense of 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. Rich people were more likely to believe that wealth was part of genes and
identity, that they were entitled to wealth based upon their personal circumstances and actions.
Wealthy people also believe that more or less, life is fair and people mostly get what they deserve.

D. Ethics
 Those who perceive themselves to be in a higher class were most likely to engage in unethical
behaviour, particularly when a symbol of wealth is introduced. That is, people who have more
tendencies to break the law. e.g. cutting off a pedestrian when in a luxury car.

 Piff (2012) also found in his research a phenomenon he labelled as self-interest maximization. It is
the idea that suggests that 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.

E. Addiction
 Many addictions begin because a person gets a positive response from a certain type of behaviour.
Whether it’s a happy feeling that one gets from shopping or a thrill that comes from gambling,
actively seeking out that behaviour again and again for the same outcome can trigger addiction.

 Behavioral or process addiction – a compulsive behavior not motivated by dependency on an

addictive substance, but rather by the process that leads to a seemingly positive outcome.
 IMPULSIVE BUYING COMPULSIVE BUYING

This refers to a sudden and powerful urge in the consumer to buy This is characterized by an excessive preoccupation or poor impulse
immediately. It occurs when desire for a product or brand outweighs control with shopping, with adverse consequences, like marital
one's willpower to resist. conflict and financial problems.

MONEY WORLDS AND WELL-BEING

Materialism as a philosophy is held by those who maintain that existence is explainable solely in material terms,
with no accounting of spirit or consciousness. Individuals who hold to this belief see the universe as a huge device
held together by pieces of matter functioning in subjection to naturalistic laws. ([Link]

 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

CORRELATES OF MATERIALISM
Lifted from Understanding the Self: Developing Life Skills by Magalona, E., Sadsad, E., and Cruz, E (2018)
1. Materialism and happiness reportedly do not go well together as it was shown that people who value
possessions and material wealth over other more significant life goals are said to be less happy and are
more prone to depression.
2. Materialism and self-esteem show an inverted relationship.
3. Materialism and financial stability show an inverted relationship.
4. Materialism and well-being manifest opposite relationship as individuals practicing this principle tend to
isolate themselves from the significant others as they continue try to derive gratification from amassing
objects rather than interacting with the people around them.
5. Materialism and self-concept prove how insecurity motivates people to work so hard for material
possessions as the same wealth becomes their source of security.
6. Materialism and lack of engagement mean losing one’s ability to empathize with others as they become
callous to other people’s needs.

ACCORDING TO GREGOIRE (2017) MATERIALISM MAKES PEOPLE

UNHAPPY FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. Consumer culture may be harming individual well-being.

 Allegedly those who pursue more wealth and greater material
possessions are less satisfied as they experience less positive
emotions.

2. Materialistic values are linked to Type-A

behaviour.
 Those who are highly ambitious are highly competitive and
materialistic. These are traits of a Type-A personality.

3. Money really cannot buy you happiness.

 Several studies have shown that wealthy people are highly
susceptible to depression.
 Researches have also shown that money is not exactly what

 brings about the dissatisfaction and the unhappiness but the extreme
desire to earn more.

4. Materialism could ruin your relationship.

 Materialistic values result to low-quality relationships and
disconnectedness.
 5. Consumer cultures may breed narcissistic personalities.
 Narcissist are highly arrogant as they are deeply concerned with
inadequacy. They work a lot for power and prestige to cover up their
perceived emptiness and low self-worth. All these sentiments
demand validation form others through praises, compliments and
approval.

6. Consumerism is fuelled by insecurity.

 Research shows that those who are extremely doubtful of their self-
worth are highly insecure and thus have the tendency to be more
materialistic.
 Consumerism capitalizes on insecurity so their products and services
will sell and be highly demanded.

THE ART OF BUYING: COMING TO TERMS WITH MONEY AND MATERIALISM

Tatzel, M (2003), The Art of Buying: Coming to Terms with Money and Materialism, Journal of Happiness Studies
420-429

ABSTRACT. Money and possessions hold strong attractions, but being driven to acquire them in order to enhance
one’s social standing is associated with lowered well-being. Literatures on money and happiness, materialism, and
cultural mediators are reviewed. Consumer well-being is associated with being neither very tight nor very loose with
money, with having relatively low financial aspirations, and with being low in materialism. Price-related behaviors –
whether to spend low, spend high, or attempt to maximize value – are ways of responding to economic outlay vis-a-
vis material wants, and these “strategies” offer a window into broader consumer lifestyles: the Value Seeker type is
tight with money and materialistic; the Big Spender is loose with money and materialistic; the Non-Spender is tight
with money and not materialistic; and the Experiencer is loose with money and not materialistic. Each of these
types is described in terms of the potentials for well-being as well as the risks. Intrinsic motivation emerges as a key
to well-being.

TIGHT WITH MONEY LOOSE WITH MONEY

Value seeker Big spender
Bargain hunter Exhibitionist
Hold possessions Replace possessions
HIGH MATERIALISM
Enjoy price comparison shopping Price-quality schema
Cool involvement Trend conscious
Save-to-spend Debt prone
Non-spender Experiencer
Saver Spend for recreation, self-development
LOW MATERIALISM Ascetic lifestyle and services
Price averse Generous
Quality less important

Here is an excerpt from Tatzel, M (2003), The Art of Buying: Coming to Terms with Money and Materialism,
Journal of Happiness Studies 420-429

What type of consumer are you?

Value Seeker: Tight with Money and Materialistic

Given the combination of high materialism and tight with money, we might expect the Value Seeker to be especially
unhappy – anxious about money, other directed, dissatisfied, and in conflict between material desires and reluctance to
spend.
 Value Seekers enjoy price comparison shopping, through which they derive knowledge and hedonic benefits
(Mamorstein et al., 1992).
 This is a “smart shopper” who can outwit the retailer and thus save money by paying less than the going price
(Mano and Elliott, 1997).
 Good value can be thought of as the lowest price for a given level of quality (Bei and Heslin, 1997). Bargain
hunters can ply their skills at virtually all points along the quality continuum, even for luxury goods.
  Instead of the “hot” materialism of “I must have it now”, they can wait for the synchrony of the right product at the
right price. The pleasure of delayed acquisition is sweetened by the triumph of the good buy.
 A preference for saving for expensive purchases (“save-to-spend”), rather than borrowing, is also a form of
delayed gratification.
 The Value Seeker should be debt averse. Debt is a form of loss of control over money. Not only has one not held
on to money (as the tight-with-money prefer to do), not only has one spent what one has, one has also spent
what one does not have. Furthermore, paying interest on a loan is a “waste” of money for which one gets
nothing (no thing) in return.
 Many traits of the Value Seeker can support well-being: this is
a competent consumer, who enjoys shopping, enjoys
saving money, and enjoys possessions.
 Yet being tight with money and materialistic are both
associated with lowered well-being. The risks to well-being
for this type come from being extreme in these traits plus having
strong financial aspirations. The Value Seeker could become a
fretful individual, who feels poor, agonizes over purchases,
and is a compulsive bargain hunter.

Big Spender: Loose with Money and Materialistic

The Big Spender enjoys spending money and displaying high status possessions. The price-seeking Big Spender feels
successful with conspicuously expensive purchases. They have attraction to spending, the belief that expensive things
are better, and prestige-seeking, with its overtones of competitiveness.
 The Big Spender is concerned with consuming in a showy manner. Thus possessions that hold value may be of
less interest, and money would flow into renewable possessions, like cars, and into replacing outdated
possessions, such as furniture. The Big Spender wants the latest and the best.
 The Big Spender lifestyle is especially treacherous for those with limited means. Low inhibitions about
spending can lead to buying on credit, and debt in itself is detrimental to well-being (Ahuvia and Friedman,
1998). If living within one’s means requires buying a used car, the trend-conscious Big Spender may instead
lease an outsized sport utility vehicle, even if it means stretching credit to the limit.
 The Big Spender illustrates what is wrong with consumer culture: in the elusive quest for the “good life”, the
driven consumer overworks (Schor, 1992), overspends (Schor,
1998), and goes into debt in order to own too many
possessions (Dominguez and Robin, 1992).
 Making one’s possessions visible to others and being fashionable
both be speak sociability. In its positive aspect, we can find in the
Big Spender a healthy extraversion, even though the need for
admiration hints at the social anxiety and competitiveness that
motivate materialism.
 Being overly loose with money and highly materialistic, however,
are both risk factors for well-being. So is strong financial motivation,
particularly for these ends, and it is likely that the Big Spender will
need lots of money to support a lifestyle of free spending and
endless material wants or else he will be at risk for compulsive
spending, social anxiety, guilt, low self-esteem, and dissatisfaction
with life.

Non-Spender: Tight with Money and Not Materialistic

The Non-Spender is unmoved by the temptations of materialism.
 There is anxiety over parting with money and the fear over being cheated, and on the other hand there is the
enjoyment of holding money, tracking it, and perhaps watching it grow.
 The Non-Spender is probably ill-at-ease in the marketplace and relatively unskilled. He or she suspects that
prices do not reflect quality, and this suspicion strengthens the resolve to buy “low” and spend as little as
possible (Rao and Sieben, 1992).
 Not spending is an adaptation to being poor, a strategy for survival in
constrained circumstances. In less constrained circumstances, such
self-restraint can be a route to financial independence and may even be
the road to riches. The “millionaire next door” (Stanley and Danko,
1996) lives modestly while amassing a fortune through scrimping,
saving and investing.
  The Non-Spender, free from the lures of consumer culture and free from the needs for social approval that
induce consumer conformity, may be particularly individualistic, self-reliant, and self-controlled.
 The Non-Spender is also prone to the drawbacks of being overly tight with money – worried, suspicious, stingy,
withholding. Although low materialism is mostly a positive force for well-being, one can imagine that a life of
severe material denial would be bleak and unstimulating with little to nourish growth. If the motive to hoard money
supercedes other life values, there would be little to counter the barrenness.

The Experiencer: Loose with Money and Not Materialistic

The Experiencer is someone who is relaxed about spending money and lacks material motives, and so likely to spend on
the transitory intangibles that enhance life.
 Spending for experience can take various forms.
o Activities is one category. Examples include recreation, travel, self-improvement workshops,
entertainment.
o Another category is service, the willingness to pay to have someone tend to one’s needs. Dining at good
restaurants and shopping at boutiques and specialty stores can provide the personal attention and
pleasant surroundings that are hard to come by in serve-yourself supermarkets and in stark, impersonal
discount stores.
 When money is spent on material objects, the value for the Experiencer lies more in using the possessions
than in showcasing them (Holt, 1995).
 It seems that of all the types, the Experiencer, who spends for personal growth and pleasure and is low in
materialism, is the most attuned to intrinsic motivation and is therefore the most likely to enjoy wellbeing. Yet for
the Experiencer, too, there are risk factors, and one lies in the motive when spending for experience. Just as
objects can satisfy intrinsic or extrinsic motives, so can experiences.
o Tourism is one such example: it can be a way of authentically participating in the spirit of other cultures,
or it can be a source of ego gratification, especially when the tourist destination has been fashioned so as
to flatter the tourist (MacCannell, 2002). Is the motive for travel to savor the experience or to boast about
having been to the in-spots and thereby enhance one’s social standing? When experiences are valued as
status symbols (and certainly one can spend conspicuously for experiences as well as for things), the
Experiencer has moved toward the Big Spender type.

 A risk factor is being overly loose with money. A lack of concern

about spending, or a lack of self-control, can eventuate in the money
problems and debt associated with compulsive spending. When a
large inflow of money is required in order to feed the stream of
spending, the pressure to acquire more money, which can
strengthen financial drives, can have negative consequences for
well-being.

Let us consider how the same consumer choice may be assessed in the four money worlds. Given a choice between
replacing old, shabby furniture and going on vacation, the Value Seeker might shop around for furniture sales or else
refurbish the old furniture, the Big Spender might upgrade and update the furniture in the latest style, the Non-Spender
might neither go on a vacation nor do anything about the furniture, and the Experiencer is likely to opt for the vacation and
make do with the shabby furniture for a while longer.
VARIOUS WAY TO APPRECIATE OUR OWN UNIQUENESS AND BE GENUINELY JOYOUS
ABOUT IT.
Lifted from Understanding the Self: Developing Life Skills by Magalona, E., Sadsad, E., and Cruz, E (2018)
1. Learn to share your blessings no matter how simple it is.
2. Improve your self-esteem and self-worth by engaging in worthwhile activities.
3. Learn to communicate and relate with people around you.
4. Take time to appreciate the beauty of life and God’s creations.
5. Be grateful to those who compliment you by returning the favour.
6. Focus on your strengths and not on your flaws.
7. Stop projecting on media accounts about what you have and others do not.
8. Learn to let go of things that are not significantly needed,
9. Develop a mantra to counter the negativities entering your thoughts.
 10. Stop brewing on negativities and on hurtful past. Focus on the future and what you can do to be
productive and happy.

SHAPING THE WAY WE SEE OURSELVES : The Roles of Consumer Culture on Our Sense of
Self and Identity Lifted from Understanding the Self by Villafuerte, S., Quilope, A., Tunac, R. and Borja, E. (2018)
POSSESSIONS AND THE EXTENDED SELF
If possessions are viewed as part of the self, it follows that an unintentional loss of possessions should be regarded
as loss or lessening of self

Example: In situations that deliberately such as mental hospitals, prisons,

concentration camps or military training camps, the firsts step in receiving members is
to systematically deprive them of all personal possessions including clothing, money
or even names. Their bodies may be standardized to some degree (e.g. military
haircuts, standard wardrobe) and their behaviors and conversations may be strictly
prohibited. The result of this systematic substitution of standardize “identity kits” for
former possessions is an elimination of uniqueness (Snyder and Fromkin, 1981) and a
corresponding and often traumatic lessening of the individual’s sense of self.

Another instance of non-voluntary loss of possession that bring about a diminished sense of
self is when possessions are lost due to theft or casualty. Rosenblatt, Walsh and Jackson
(1976) suggest that a process of grief and mourning may follow the discovery of theft just as
one might grieve and mourn the death of a loved one who had been part of one’s life.
 Handbag snatching can produce not only a financial but also emotional, long term
effects on victims.
 Losing photographs of loved ones that are often carried in a purse may cause victims sense of security
impaired
 Those who lost possessions to a natural disasters went through a process of grief similar to that of losing a
loved one.

SPECIAL CASES OF EXTENDED SELF

1. Collections (I shop, therefore, I am)
a. Humans and animals once primarily assemble collections of necessities for future security, but today
humans more often assemble collection of non-necessities for distinction and self-definition. The
cultivation of a collection is a purposeful self-defining act. 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 (Mason, 1981)
b. Many collectors who are inhibited and uncomfortable in social interaction, surround themselves with
favoured objects upon which they project human-like qualities. They practically talk to these objects;
they find comfort in being with them and regard them as friends (Goldberg & Lewis, 1978). Note that
not all collectors are inhibited and uncomfortable in social interaction.
c. Collections may be seen as transition objects or security blankets for adults.
2. Pets
a. Pets are regarded as family members (Cain, 1985; Friedman & Thomas, 1985 etc).
b. It is significant that we name our pets, feed them, sleep and play with them, and mourn their death
(Hickrod & Schmitt 1982; Meer 1984)
c. In some cases, the mourning that comes with the death of the pet is similar to the loss of a home or
the loss of a limb (Carmack, 1985; Cowles; 1985 & Keddie 1977)
d. 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 (Levinson, 1972; Robin & Bensel, 1985)

3. Body Parts
a. In psychology, cathexis is defined as the process of allocation of mental or emotional energy to a
person, object, or idea. Body cathexis is defined as the degree of satisfaction reported by an
individual for the parts of his body. (Jourard and Secord, 1955). This refers to the feelings (positive
or negative) one feels towards his own body. When a body a body is highly cathected, there is
greater use of grooming products to care for this part of the body.
b. Since we are permanently attached to out body parts, these body parts are expected to be more
strongly cathected than material possessions that can be more easily acquired and discarded. And
since body parts are normally central to conceptions of self, the loss of body parts is tantamount to
losing one’s identity and one’s very being. Indeed the loss of limb is often viewed by those from
whom it has been severed in just this way.

** END of LESSON on THE MATERIAL SELF***