Material / Economic Self

Material / Economic Self

• A discussion of the potential relationships between materialism and several economic variables, including use of money, work motivation, giving and materialism all the physical elements that reflects who a person is such as body, clothes, money, family, and anything we have

Material Self It refers to tangible objects, people, or places that carry the designation my or mine.

Material Self The material self refers to tangible objects, people, or places that carry the designation my or mine. Two subclasses of the material self can be distinguished:

Material Self • bodily self and the extracorporeal (beyond the body) self. Rosenberg (1979) has referred to the extracorporeal self as the extended self.

Material Self • The bodily self – the parts of our body

• Extracorporeal – any material possessions which extends our body.

Material Self The bodily component of the material self requires little explanation. A person speaks of my arms or my legs. These entities are clearly an intimate part of who we are. But our sense of self is not limited to our bodies.

Material Self It includes other people (my children), pets (my dog), possessions (my car), places (my home town), and the products of our labors (my painting). It is not the physical entities themselves, however, that comprise the material self.

Material Self

The things we own is an extension of ourselves. Possessions are the extended versions of oneself

We use them to signal to ourselves, and others, who we want to be and where we want to belong.

Social Self The social nature of the self, the emphasis is on the self-esteem, along with self-centrality, selfcomplexity, social interest, identification, power, openness and majority identification.

Social Self The relational self includes all of the individuals we regard as “ours,” such as our parents, siblings, romantic partners, close friends, and colleagues (Andersen & Chen, 2002; Chen, Boucher, & Tapias, 2006).

Relational self • First, people spontaneously mention others when describing themselves, and include photographs of their family, loved ones, and friends when asked to prepare photographs that reveal something about “who you are” • (Aron, Aron, Tudor, & Nelson, 1991; Dollinger & Clancy Dollinger, 2003).

Bodily component Self • James called the second category of the empirical self the social self. The social self refers to how we are regarded and recognized by others.

Bodily component Self • Building on James’s analysis, modern researchers have proposed that we also possess a relational self, the self defined in terms of specific interpersonal relationships.

However, putting too much of one's life on the things you own may have negative effects for ones identity-materialism.

Materialism - having a selfconcept that is based on what one possesses either intrinsically (abilities, skills, physical appearance) or extrinsically (clothes, social environment) Kashdan & Breen, 2007

Childhood & Adolescence ... The idea that we can own something, is one that children grasp by the age of two. And by six, they exhibit the ‘endowment effect’, placing extra value on an object simply by virtue of it being, or having been, theirs.

Childhood & Adolescence ...

Through adolescence, possessions increasingly reflect who people are, or at least how they would like to see themselves.

Adulthood ...

our things embody our sense of selfadulthood and identity still further, becoming external receptacles for our memories, relationships and travels.

Economic Self • Economic self-sufficiency is the ability of individuals and families to maintain sufficient income to consistently meet their basic needs • – including food, housing, utilities, health care, transportation, taxes, dependent care, and clothing

Maslow Hierarchy of needs

Material possessions • Signify aspects of one's sense of self and identity • One's sense of self and identity is influential on how an individual chooses to purchase his or her wants and he or she makes economic decisions that will address his or her personal and social needs.

What is Consumer Psychology

It is the study of why people buy things. Psychologists try to find the underlying cognitive processes that explain consumers' choices and how they respond to the influence of marketing, as well as the external stimuli that convince people to purchase certain items.

Theories of Consumer Behavior

1. Behaviorism - people's actions are driven by external stimuli. We become convinced to do things because of some outside influence.

Theories of Consumer Behavior

2. Cognitive Approach - suggests that our behaviors are caused mostly by our own mental processing.

FACTORS IN PURCHASING ITEMS AND SERVICES FACTORS 1. Financial constraints 2. Availability of items and services 3. Influence of family and friends

NEEDS VS. WANTS • Needs is important for survival • Wants is synonymous with luxuries

Utility and significance • In the process of acquiring material goods, people generally consider two things: 1. UTILITY as how things serve its practical purpose and 2. SIGNIFICANCE concerning the meaning assigned to the object.