Material Self PDF

MATERIAL SELF **Introduction:** **The Material Self Hierarchy** - - - - Curtis (2017) manifested that cash can have serious bearing on one's belief regarding the way a person views him/herself. The following are evidences behind the idea that money truly can change people: a. Social...

MATERIAL SELF **Introduction:** **The Material Self Hierarchy** - - - - Curtis (2017) manifested that cash can have serious bearing on one's belief regarding the way a person views him/herself. The following are evidences behind the idea that money truly can change people: a. Social and Business value Heyman and Ariely (2004) stated that there are two motivations for completing a task. First is social. By seeing a task's social value, a person sees it as a worthy investment of time and is usually happy to help out. - 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. c\. Self-view The amount one earns could have an effect on how he/she views the self and others. 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 d\. Ethics - Those who perceive themselves to be in a higher class were most likely to engage in unethical behavior, particularly when a symbol of wealth was introduced such as cutting off a pedestrian when in a luxury car. e\. Addiction - Many addictions begin because a person gets a positive response from a certain type of behavior. Whether it's a happy feeling that one gets from shopping or a thrill that comes from gambling, actively seeking out that behavior again and again for the same outcome can trigger an addiction. This is called "behavioral or process addiction" a compulsive behavior not motivated by dependency on an addictive substance, but rather by a process that leads to a seemingly positive outcome.  - **SHAPING the Way We See Ourselves: The Roles of Consumer Culture on Our Sense of SELF and IDENTITY** - Possessions and the Extended Self If possessions are viewed as part of self, it follows that an unintentional loss of possessions, should be regarded as a loss or lessening of self.  Goffman (1961) provides a thorough review of the evidence of deliberate lessening of self-manifested in such institutions such as: mental hospitals, home for the aged, military training camps, boarding schools among others. - - - - WEALTH AND WELL-BEING https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/fZbCWomVqK8QXbrgNBns6MiQZmKGNrSji504z1VDXVHQ4IfNoCOx0iEVkA7ecOUQtdlj7ZnbslC4TT-8WdsTc5BgHIKteutR4uAliItkCQpCH4yPordmGHJBt0CkC5Zo8yXrSqTQ9\_c CYCLE OF WORK AND SPEND Because labor is devoid of its intrinsic importance to the self, the worker turns to consumption, for it is only through it that they experience enjoyment - - - The individual choose the level of working hours and the quantity of consumption.  SPECIAL CASES OF EXTENDED SELF 1. \*Collection has become a significant activity in our consumer society as it has more widely affordable through the discretionary time and money available to the general population rather than just to the wealthy elite (Mason, 1981) \*Goldberg and  Lewis (1978, p. 64) go further in suggesting that "Many collectors who are inhibited and uncomfortable in social interaction themselves with favored objects upon which they project human-like qualities. 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" 2. Pets as Extended SELF Pets are regarded commonly as representative of self and studies show that we attempt to infer characteristics of people from their friends (Foote 1956; Heiman 1967). Others have observed that, like people, pets are regarded as family members (Cain 1985; Friedmann and Thomas, 1985; Hickrod and Schmitt 1982). 3\. Body Parts Body parts are among the most central parts of the extended self.  Csikszentmilhalyi and Rochberg-Halton (1981) proposed the seemingly identical concept of psychic energy investment to describe the process of identification with possessions of any type. \*The loss of a limb is often viewed by those from whom it has been severed in just this way (Parker, 1982; Schilder 1950). One is literally and symbolically afraid of being less of a person following an amputation. **How Do I Decide What to Buy?** - Five Stages in Philip Kotler's (1980) Buyer Decision Process: 1. **Needs Arousal/Recognition** 2. **Information Search** (Marketing Teacher - http://www.marketingteacher.com/buyer-decision-process-2/) 3. **Evaluation of Alternatives** sees the evaluation of the available alternatives; the buyer then decides upon a set of criteria by which to assess each alternative (Marketing Teacher - http://www.marketingteacher.com/buyer-decision-process-2/) 4. **Purchase Decision** buyer makes the final choice of what to buy and from whom to buy it (Marketing Teacher - http://www.marketingteacher.com/buyer-decision-process-2/) 5. **Post-purchase Behavior/Feelings** (Marketing Teacher - http://www.marketingteacher.com/buyer-decision-process-2/) SUMMARY: **The MATERIAL SELF** refers to all of the physical elements that reflect who a person is which includes one's body, possessions and home. The family, home and clothes also come from a person's material self. Practical interests of a person is part of one's material self which includes the instinctive impulse of collecting property. Luxury and materialism are by-products of the material self. Materialism refers to the theory or belief that nothing exists except matter, its movements and its 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. As we shape the way we see ourselves and develop our sense of self and identity, **[reflecting on this familiar statement might help]**; "**PEOPLE ARE CREATED TO BE LOVED AND THINGS WERE CREATED TO BE USED**; the reason why the world is in so much chaos right now is because PEOPLE ARE BEING USED, and THINGS ARE BEING LOVED".