Understanding the Material Self

• The following are study notes on the material self, consumer behavior, the spiritual self, the political self and the digital self

Material/Economic Self

• This refers to the tangible elements that represent oneself.
• This lesson aims to identify the parts of the material self, explain the association of possessions with the self, analyze consumer culture's role in self and identity, and reflect on how economic activities influence behavior.
• At the end of this lesson, students are expected to identify the various aspects of their material possessions and how they connect to their sense of self.

What is Material Self?

• According to William James, the material self encompasses the body, clothing, immediate family, and home.
• It is the material representation of oneself, including tangible items like a house, car, jewelry, money, gadgets, bags, and shoes.
• These all can be parts of the material self: the body, clothes, immediate family, and home.
• The Body is the innermost facet of the material self.
• Clothing choices reflect identity.
• Immediate family forms part of the material self, where negative events involving them cause pain and anger.
• Home is central to life experiences and treated as part of the self.

Possessions and the Extended Self

• The extended self is defined by external objects surrounding the individual.
• The concept includes people, places, territory, and group possessions.
• Greater control over these aspects leads to a stronger association with oneself.
• The possessions can be categorized by level, starting with the individual level
• At the individual level, the extended self is expressed through personal possessions like jewelry or cars.
• Family level possessions encompass the home and its contents.
• Community level possessions include attachments to one's neighborhood.
• Group level possessions are shared with others in a group, influencing identity.
• Several ways exist to integrate possessions into the extended self, like by taking personal using an object, by creating or buying it, or by knowing the object.

Consumer Behavior

• Consumer behavior studies how people buy, use, and dispose of objects, including decisions on products, goods, services, ideas, or lifestyle practices.
• It is influenced by psychological, social, cultural, and personal factors.
• Consumers value items consistent with their self-concept

Why do we buy things we don't need?

• The desire to buy something stems from a perceived need.
• Internal conflict arises about purchasing, influenced by Freud's id, ego, and superego.
• The id operates on the "pleasure principle," seeking immediate satisfaction.
• The ego mediates between the id and superego, considering reality.
• The superego, developed from family and society, contains rules and may urge against unnecessary purchases.

The Concept of Spirituality

• This lesson aims to differentiate religiosity from spirituality, search for life's meaning according to Viktor Frankl, and reflect on how religious beliefs and practices influence the self.
• At the end of this lesson, students are expected to differentiate their personal levels of spirituality and religiousness.
• Spirituality involves connecting to something bigger than oneself, searching for individual purpose and meaning.
• It defines one's identity, independent of external opinions.
• Various figures define spirituality differently.
  • Frankl (1959): Attempting to understand and connect with the unknown, pursuing personal meaning.
  • Weaver and Cottrell (1992): Releasing passions to seek goals with individual meaning.
  • Makey and Sparling (2000): Using intrinsic beliefs to guide daily living.
  • Koening (2002): Finding self-value and life purpose.

Religiosity

• Religiosity is is the belief in and reverence for something holy and sacred
• It is also the adherence to and involvement in a belief system and practices associated with religious activity.
• Spirituality differs based on the distinctions to religiosity.
  • Religiosity means believing in religion and talking about God, wheras spirituality may not mean necessarily believing in religion, and may involve making one's self godly.
  • Religiosity includes collective beliefs, whereas spirituality contains more individual beliefs
  • Religiosity can identify religion from each other, whereas spirituality unites world religions
  • Religiosity is specific, while spirituality is more broad
• Religiosity is the degree of adherence to religious beliefs and practices.
• Spirituality can exist without religiosity, but the reverse isn't always true.
• Spirituality is exclusively defined in religious terms when one is religious.

Sources of Meaning According to Viktor E. Frankl

• Frankl emphasizes the search for meaning in life, dependent on purpose and responsibility.
• Sources of meaning include work, love, and suffering.
  • Work: Doing significant things for oneself and others.
  • Love: Valuing the essence of another, providing a reason to live.
  • Suffering: Finding meaning in unavoidable suffering through personal transformation.
• Three ways of discovering meaning in life:
  • Creative Value: Doing something to help service of others
  • Experiential Value: Connecting with other giving meaningful relationships
  • Attitudinal Value: Choosing one's response to suffering.

How to become more spiritual

• Here are some tips: listen to relaxing music
• Help those who are in need
• Giving thanks for your blessings
• Stop, pause, relax and take a deep breath
• Count to 3 for your heightened emotions
• Express yourself: write, draw, or document your thoughts to feel in control

Political Self

• This lesson aims to develop consciousness of identity as a Filipino regarding values, traits, and institutional factors, evaluate political factors' influence on selfhood, and illustrate citizens' duties and responsibilities.
• At the end of this lesson, students are expected to relate to what they ought to do as Filipino citizens and what they ought to do as a student.

Politics, Citizenship, and the Self

• Aristotle stated that man is by nature a "political animal," needing collective life and political activities.
• Politics involves people deciding and agreeing on issues and the activities where people improve the conditions of their lives.
• The political system refers to formal institutions like the government and the political behavior of the people
• Citizenship is vested with rights, privileges, and duties.
• Active citizenship involves public affairs engagement to improve communities.
• Participation in democratic processes like protesting or voting exemplifies active participation.

Filipino Values and Traits

• Active citizenship is a practice of democracy.
• Democracy adheres to freedom and equality, allowing citizens to make informed choices.
• Filipino citizens have rights, privileges, duties, and responsibilities in the political community as stated in the Philippine constitution.
  • To become a Filipino citizen, there are three processes: by birth, by blood, and the process of naturalization.
• Here are some postive traits of Filipinos
  • Respectful, practicing bayanihan, religious, hospitable, cheerful, hardworking, close family ties
• Here are some negative traits of Filipinos:
  • Practicing bahala na, mañana habit, having colonial mentality, crab mentality, being balat-sibuyas, and ningas cogon

Digital Self

• This lesson aims to compare and contrast offline versus online identity, explain the digital world's effect on the self, and demonstrate values and attitude online.
• At the end of this lesson, students are expected to identify with how they present themselves in social media.

The Self in the Age of Technology

• Technology significantly influences humans, with social media playing a crucial role in shaping identity.
• Social media are online tools enabling interaction and self-expression.
• Individuals may behave differently online, leading to online disembodiment.
• Online disembodiment is when people are less likely to show their real "self" to others online.
• In the digital world, there is an extended self that has changed; there is dematerialization as well as reembodiment

Dematerialization and Reembodiment

• There is dematerialization, where documents or photos for example can be largely invisble by being stored in the cloud
• There is reembodiment, where physical boundaries are less of a constraint and are replaced by avatars.

Digital Identity

• This section involves your identity online.
• Digital identity is basically who are you online.
• All information online (posts, searches, etc.) makes up your digital footprint.
• Projecting one's role idenity on an online environment is vital for oneself.
• Participation in an online environment can affect a person's sense of self. Social identity from the virtual world impacts a person's online identity.

Online Disinhibition Effect

• The online disinhibition effect eliminates social boundaries and inhibitions in online communication.
• Suler coined this term
• The Two classifications of online disinhibition
  • Benign disinhibition: When people disclose a lot about each other more than they would in real life
  • Toxic disinhibition: describes undesirable behaviors online because the individual is anonymous.
• There are several factors that influence online disinhibition: anonymity, invisibility, asynchronicity

Selective Self-Presentation and Impression Management

• Self-presentation involves controlling how one is perceived.
• People carefully select information to build positive images may provide false information.
• Impression management attempts to influence other's perceptions by regulating information.

Digital Citizenship

• Digital citizenship is behaving correctly and responsibly when using technology
• It involves using effective online communication and participation while respecting rights and others.
• The nine fundamental elements of digital citizenship are respect, education, and protection

Respect, education, and protection in the context of digital citizenship

• Respect refers to digital access, digital etiquette, and digital law
• Digital law means learning about appropriate conduct online
• Digital access allows equal digital rights and access for all
• Digital etiquette protects and has people respect intellectual property rights
• Education is related to the options that they are communicating from as well as being literate in a digital space
• Digital commerce provides effective learning as well as being able to make purchases online
• Protection: It deals with individual safety as they traverse the internet
• It means protecting the rights to basic privacy as well as keeping others safe from other people that can cause harm
• There is also a need to stay well as a person by not being obssessed or addicted to the internet
• Cyberbullying is an intentional harmful behavior using digital communication technologies.
• Common forms of cyberbullying:
  • Flaming: Posting vulgar messages
  • Harassment: Constantly sending offensive messages
  • Cyberstalking: It includes threats of harm.
  • Denigration: Gossip or vicious statements
  • Masquerade: Use bad identity
  • Outing: Publicly Humiliating someone
  • Exclusion: Blocking/excluding someone from a digital group.
  • Phishing: Stealing someone's personal information for their own malicious use
  • Sexting: Sending inappropriate sexual messages
• In conclusion, one's behaviour online and the content they post greatly affect their digital reputation and should be protected.