Understanding The Self

Material/ Economic Self and Spiritual Self

Material/ Economic Self Material self all of the Physical Elements that reflect who you are, possessions, car, home, body, clothes, social self. The self as reflected through your interactions with others actually, a variety of selves that respond to changes in situations and roles

The Bodies 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 it includes other people ( my children) pet ( 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.

 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. The bodily self and the extra corporeal ( Beyond the body) self. Rosenberg ( 1979) has referred to the extra corporeal elf as the extended self.  A discussion of the potential relationships between materialism and several economic variables, including use of money, work, motivation, giving, and materialism.  The use of economic good in social communication and the potential role of materialism in such communication. * Materialism is a variable relevant to many aspects to economic psychology.

2 Sub Classes of Material/ Economic Self * Body Self – which is our body, for example a persons speak of “my arms” or “my legs”. These entities are clearly an intimate part of who we are. * Extracorporeal self- (beyond the body) Rosenberg (1979) has referred to the extracorporeal self as the extended self. It includes all the people, places and things that we regard as “ours”. It can also be referred a possession. Factor Affecting the Material/ Economic Self * Financial Constraints * Availability of items and services * Influence of family and friends * Wants vs. needs Material Possession tells something of the personality and social values of those who own them. Possessions are the extended version of oneself.

2 things to be considered in acquiring materials goods * Utility- concerned with how things serve a practical purpose. *Significance- concerned with the meaning assigned to the object. It is also concerned with how the objects become powerful symbols or icon habit ritual. •

According to Barthes, It is through objects that people assert their identities.

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Objects are not just things but are reflections of the wider lives in communities and individuals; the things people possess are also sync with what is valued by their communities.

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The possession of material things also indicates one’s status in society.

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One’s possession are perceived as personal choices that define people to a certain extent. These personal choices build one’s material and economic elf which is an extension of his or her social identity.

What is Spiritual Self?  For James, the spiritual elf was who we are at our core. It is more concrete or permanent than the other two selves.

 The spiritual self is our subjective and most intimate self.  The most intimate version of self because the satisfaction experienced when one thinks of one’s “ Ability to argue and discriminate, of our [one’s] moral sensibility, and conscience, of our indomitable will” ( James 1890) is more pure than other sentiments of satisfaction.  Is our inner essence, our soul, the part of us that exists beyond time and space. It connect us with the universal source and the oneness of all life. Developing our awareness of the spiritual level of our being allows us to experience a feeling of “ belonging” in the universe, a deeper meaning and purpose in our lives, and a broader perspective than we have from our personality alone.  Spiritual Self care in any ritual or practice that we do to further our connection with our higher self, Your higher self is who we truly are as an individual, the real you, your higher self is the you that is disassociated from, and not influenced by the ego or fear.

How to Practice Spiritual Self Care - Understanding your existence in the spiritual sense is a crucial component to self care that is often easily overlooked here are some tips to practice spiritual self care that nurtures your soul. There is another incredibly important dimension, Other than physical and emotional to self care, and that’s spiritual self care, just as it is important to communicate our needs or nourish our body with food, taking care of our spiritual being is crucial to living a grounded and happy life.

Spiritual Self care activities 1.Practice Meditation 2.Take a walk 3.Clause you space 4.Connect with a community

Aspects of a spiritual self includes the following:

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Things like personality

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Core values

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Conscience that do not typically change throughout an individual’s lifetime.

What is involved in the spiritual self? 

The spiritual self involves introspection, or looking inward to deeper spiritual

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Moral or intellectual questions without the influence of objective thoughts.

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By the Spiritual Self, so far as it belongs to the Empirical Me, I mean a man’s inner or subjective being, his psychic faculties of dispositions, taken concretely; not the bare principle of personal unity, or “pure” ego, which remains still to be discussed. These psychic dispositions are the most enduring and intimate part of the self, that which we most verily seem to be. We take a purer self-satisfaction when we think of our ability to argue or discriminate, of our oral sensibility and conscience, of our indomitable will, than when we survey any of our other possessions. Only when these are altered is a man said to be alienates a se.

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Spiritual Self may be considered in various ways. We may divide it into faculties, as just instanced, isolating them one from another, and identifying ourselves with either in turn.

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This is an abstract way of dealing with consciousness, in which, as it actually presents itself, a plurality of such faculties are always to be simultaneously found; or we may insist on a concrete view, and then spiritual self in us will be either the entire stream of our personal consciousness, or the present ‘ segment’ or ‘section’ of that stream, according as we take a broader or a narrower view. Both the stream and the section being concrete existences in time, and each being a unity after its own peculiar kind.

 For James, achieving a high level of understanding of who we are at our core, or understanding our spiritual selves is more rewarding than satisfying the needs of the social and material selves.