LEGACY COLLEGE OF COMPOSTELA

(Formerly: Philippine Institute of Medical Science and Technology)

Dagohoy St. Poblacion, Compostela, Davao De Oro
Telephone No: (084) 400-9392 / Email Address: [email protected]

FIRST MODULE

Name : _______________________________ Score : _________

Course/Major : BSCRIM 1 G Year/Sec. : _________
Course Code : GE 101
Course Title : UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Lesson 3: To Buy or Not to Buy? That Is the Question!

General Introduction
Knowing thyself is the fundamental factor to be known as a living creation on earth. Every individual has to
navigate from within thyself to master and improve by its nature as a person. In this course, we are challenged to be
motivated upon understanding oneself. Brace yourself and enjoy the course.

Lesson 2: TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY? THAT IS THE QUESTION!

Introduction
We are living in a world of sale and shopping spree. We are given a wide array of products to purchase from a
simple set of spoon and fork to owning a restaurant. Almost everywhere, including the digital space, we can find
promotions of product purchase. Product advertisements are suggestive of making us feel better or look good. Part of
us wants to have that product. What makes us want to have those products are connected with who we are. What we
want to have and already possess is related to our self.

Belk (1988) stated that "we regard our possessions as parts of our selves. We are what we have and what we
possess." There is a direct link between self-identity with what we have and possess. Our wanting to have and possess
has a connection with another aspect of the self, the material self.

Let us try to examine ourselves further in the lens of material self.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. explain the association of self and possessions;

2. identify the role of consumer culture to self and identity; and
3. appraise one's self based on the description of material self.

ACTIVITY:
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 Debit Card Challenge

A very wealthy person gave you a debit card and told you to use it as much as you want to make yourself happy.
What are you going to do with it? Make a list of what you want to have.

LIST

10

11

12

13

14

15

ANALYSIS:

Answer the following questions:

1. How do you feel as you do the Debit Card Challenge?

2. Which among the items in your list you like the most? Why?
3. If ever you were given the chance in real life to have one among the list, which would you choose? Why?
4. Does your choice different from what you answer in question number 2? Why or why not?
5. Let your classmate read your list. Ask her/him to give or write a quick impression of yourself based on the list
you showed him/her.
6. Is the quick impression of your classmate having some truth about who you are?

ABSTRACTION:

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 Material Self

A Harvard psychologist in the late nineteenth century, William James, wrote in his book, The Principles of
Psychology in 1890 that understanding the self can be examined through its different components. He described these
components as: (1) its constituents; (2) the feelings and emotions they arouse—self-feelings; (3) the actions to which
they prompt—self-seeking and self-preservation. The constituents of self are composed of the material self, the social
self, the spiritual self and the pure ego. (Trentmann 2016; Green 1997)

The material self, according to James primarily is about our bodies, clothes, immediate family, and home. We are
deeply affected by these things because we have put much investment of our self to them.

Self Body
Clothes

Immediate Family

Home

Material Self Investment Diagram

The innermost part of our material self is our body. Intentionally, we are investing in our body. We are directly
attached to this commodity that we cannot live without. We strive hard to make sure that this body functions well and
good. Any ailment or disorder directly affects us. We do have certain preferential attachment or intimate closeness to
certain body parts because of its value to us.

There were people who get their certain body parts insured. Celebrities, like Mariah Carey who was reported to have
placed a huge amount for the insurance of her vocal cords and legs (Sukman 2016).

Next to our body are the clothes we use. Influenced by the "Philosophy of Dress" by Herman Lotze, James believed
that clothing is an essential part of the material self. Lotze in his book, Microcosmus, stipulates that "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 and making it part of the self." (Watson 2014) The fabric and style of the clothes
we wear bring sensations to the body to which directly affect our attitudes and behavior. Thus, clothes are placed in the
second hierarchy of material self. Clothing is a form of self-expression. We choose and wear clothes that reflect our
self (Watson 2014).

Third in the hierarchy is our immediate family. Our parents and siblings hold another 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 as the nearest replica of
our self.

The fourth component of material self is our home. Home is where our heart is. It is the earliest nest of our selfhood.
Our experiences inside the home were recorded and marked on particular parts and things in our home. There was an
old cliché about rooms: "if only walls can speak." The home thus is an extension of self, because in it, we can directly
connect our self.

Having investment of self to things, made us attached to those things. The more investment of self-given to the
particular thing, the more we identify ourselves to it. We also tended to collect and possess properties. The collections
in different degree of investment of self, becomes part of the self. As James (1890) described self: "a man's self is the
sum total of all what he CAN call his." Possessions then become a part or an extension of the self.
We Are What We Have
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 Russel Belk (1988) posits that "...we regard our possessions as part of ourselves. We are what we have and what we
possess." The identification of the self to things started in our infancy stage when we make a distinction among self
and environment and others who may desire our possessions.

As we grow older, putting importance to material possession decreases. However, material possession gains higher
value in our lifetime if we use material possession to find happiness, associate these things with significant events,
accomplishments, and people in our lives. There are even times, when material possession of a person that is closely
identified to the person, gains acknowledgment with high regard even if the person already passed away. Examples of
these are the chair in the dining room on which the person is always seated, the chair will be the constant reminder of
the person seated there; a well-loved and kept vehicle of the person, which some of the bereaved family members have
a difficulty to sell or let go of because that vehicle is very much identified with the owner who passed away; the
favorite pet or book, among others that the owner placed a high value, these favorite things are symbols of the owner.

The possessions that we dearly have tell something about who we are, our self-concept, our past, and even our
future.

APPLICATION AND ASSESMENT:

Debit Card Challenge List

1. Go back to your Debit Card Challenge List. Put a mark on the left side of each item with the following
categories:

B — if the item is related with your body

C — if the item is related with clothes
F — if the item is related or intended to your family
H — if the item is related with home

2. Answer the following questions:

 Which among the categories you have the most in your list?
 What do you think these things tell you about yourself?

3. Collage Making
 Create a collage of your treasured possessions including your current clothing style. You may use symbols or
pictures of your treasured possessions. Put a short note why you treasure each item.
 Everything should be uploaded to our google classroom.

REFERENCE:

Alata, Eden Joy P., et al. Understanding Self. Rex Bookstore, Manila, Philippines, 2018

- END –

“To God be the glory.”

- Jesuit Motto
Prepared by:

PHILIP E. REDUCTO Approved by:

Full-time Instructor
ENGR. EUGENE P. IGLESIAS, MIT
Academic Affairs Head

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