PAMPANGA STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines
Commission on Higher Education
Cabambangan Villa de Bacolor, Pampanga
MODULE
in
UNDERSTANDING
THE SELF
Prepared by:
Dr. Emmanuel B. Parreño
Associate Professor V
Department of Industrial Engineering
College of Engineering and Architecture
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A. Course Code / Title: USELF 113 – Understanding the Self
B. Module Number: Module 8 – The Material / Economic Self
C. Time Frame: Week 10 & 11
D. Materials: Module, Syllabus, Online Resources
I. Overview
The Material or Economic Self refers to the aspect of a person's identity that
is shaped by their possessions, wealth, economic status, and relationship with
material things. It involves how individuals’ value, acquire, use, and relate to
material resources as part of who they are.
II. Objectives
At the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:
➢ Determine the different factors that contribute to one’s material/economic
self;
➢ Distinguish between needs and wants and how they influence one’s daily
social behavior; and
➢ Analyze and evaluate one’s material and economic behavior that
contributes to his or her sense of self.
III. Content/Discussion
Introduction
A person's material self is composed of his/her:
• Car
• House
• Clothes
• Family
• Friends
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•Regardless of how much or how little a person owns materially, he or she will
always strive to acquire more because material possessions are usually a
reflection of a person's success or failure.
THE
•The self is everything that an individual considers to be his or hers, not only
his/her body and material
possessions but also his/her reputation and beliefs.
Material Self
The basic component of the material self includes the body. One of the
tasks of adolescents is to accept and appreciate the physical characteristics of
their body. Few adolescents are able to do this successfully.
Adolescents tend to worry about their bodies and physical appearance.
Generally, girls are more concerned about the appearance of their body than boys.
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Perceptions about what makes a body beautiful are usually influenced by the
media as shown in television and the internet. Another component is the clothes
that people wear. ✓Clothes represent the self. The style and brand of clothes
become significant symbols, especially among adolescents.
The clothes they wear are greatly influenced by their peer groups because
adolescents are anxious to conform to what their peer groups find fashionable and
attractive. Material Self. It can also include one's house, car, pets, and other things
that a person considers as his/her possession.
It also includes people an individual has relationships with such as one's
immediate and extended family members as well as close friends with whom one
feels psychologically connected. These people are likely to shape and influence
the development of one's self and identity. Pets could also symbolically define a
person's identity. A person's pet could be an expression of one's social status,
pride, and prestige as in owning a dog or cat of a very expensive breed.
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Body
The innermost part of our material self. We invest in our body. We strive
hard to make sure that our body functions well and good. We do have preferential
attachment or intimate closeness to certain body parts because of its value to us.
CLOTHES
➢ An essential part of the material self
➢ "The Philosophy of Dress" by Herman Lotze stipulates that t – any
time we bring an object into the surface of our body, we invest that
object into the consciousness of our personal existence taking in its
contours to be our own.
IMMEDIATE FAMILY
Our parents and siblings hold a great important part of our self.
• What they do or become affects us.
• When an immediate family member dies, part
of our self-dies too.
When their lives are in success, we feel their victories as if we are the one
holding the trophy. In their failures, we are put to shame or guilt. When they are in
disadvantage situation, there is an urgent urge to help like a voluntary instinct of
saving one's self from danger. We place huge investment in our immediate family
when we see them
HOME
The earliest nest of our selfhood. Our experiences inside the home were
recorded and marked on particular parts and things in our home.
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William James: SELF
"A man's self is the sum total of all what he CAN call his."
Possessions are a part or an extension of the SELF.
The Role of Material Possessions on the Sense of Self and Identity
Regardless of how much or how little material possessions people have, they
remain valuable because these possessions are symbolic of one's social
status. Cars, houses, gadgets, and clothes are to some the most valuable
possessions because they are the most visible in the eyes of others. The more
expensive they are, the more other people are impressed. Russell Belk (in his work
Are We What We Own?) suggests that material possessions act as an objective
manifestation of the self. Material possessions can be a reflection of hard work and
success. Normally, people tend to measure success through the amount of their
material possessions. Owning material possessions becomes a driving force in
urging an individual to seek high level of achievement in order to be able to acquire
more possessions. Defining the self by material possessions can also contribute
to a feeling of well-being, including a sense of personal growth and purpose or
meaning in life. However, the lack or loss of material possessions can be disruptive
to one's mental health, like people losing their houses and other possessions
because of disasters and calamities. People tend to judge others through their
material possessions. Thus, the greater the material possessions, the more likely
one will be accepted and regarded well by other people. The important point is that
these components of the material self-become a significant reference of one's
sense of self and identity. However, the desire for material possessions also have
negative effects on one's sense of self and identity. Materialism refers to giving
more importance to material possessions than intangible values. A materialistic
person is one who is excessively concerned with the acquisition of material
possessions. The strong desire for material possessions could lead to
psychological dysfunction or impairment in functioning such as compulsive buying
disorder. This is characterized by an obsession with shopping and buying
behaviors that can cause adverse consequences (debts). Developmental
evidence suggests that identification with material things begins quite early in life
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but remains high throughout life as people seek for happiness. Nevertheless,
psychologists identify other social and cultural factors that seem to be strongly
implicated in the etiology(cause) of materialism. People are exposed to images in
television, internet, and magazines that brag about the importance of material
possessions such as branded clothes, mobile phones, cars and the like. Lack or
loss of these material possessions could lead to anxiety, insecurity, and
depression in people who are overly materialistic.
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CONSUMER
Consumer culture is a social system which consumption is dominated by the
consumption of commercial products. It denotes a social arrangement in which the
relations between lived culture and social resources, and between meaningful
ways of life and the symbolic and material resources on which they depend on, are
mediated through markets. The consumption of market made commodities and
desire-inducing marketing symbols is central to consumer culture. A consumerist
society is one in which people spend a great deal of time, money and energy to
"consume❞ commercial products, goods, and services.
Synthesis
The material or economic self refers to how possessions, money, and
material resources become part of one’s identity. People often see their
belongings—such as clothes, gadgets, or even their home—not just as objects but
as extensions of themselves. Society and culture also influence what individuals’
value and how they define success through material wealth.
While material things can provide comfort, security, and social status, they
do not fully define who we are. The material/economic self-shows that possessions
reflect aspects of identity, but true self-worth goes beyond wealth and ownership.
Recognizing this helps balance the importance of material needs with deeper
values that shape the self.
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Reference/s
Alata, E. J. P., Caslib, B. N., Jr., Serafica, J. P. J., & Pawilen, R. A. (2018).
Understanding the self. Manila, Philippines: Rex Book Store, Inc.
Go-Monilla, M. J. A., & Ramirez, N. C. (2018). Understanding the self. Quezon
City, Philippines: C & E Publishing, Inc.
Macayan, J. V., Junghan-Pinugu, J. N., & Castillo, J. C. D. (2019). Understanding
the self: Outcome-based module. Quezon City, Philippines: C & E
Publishing, Inc.
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