The Material/Economic Self

To Buy or Not to Buy? That Is the

Question!
 ACTIVITY
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. Write as
many as you want.
 ANALYSIS
Answer the following questions:

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

2. If ever you were given the chance in real life to have one
among the list, which would you choose? Why?
3. Let your classmate read your list. Ask him/her to give or
write a quick impression of yourself based on the list you
showed him/her.
4. Is the quick impression of your classmate has some truth
about who you are?
- The material self, according to William James
primarily is about our bodies, clothes,
immediate family, and home.

- 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.
We Are What We Have

- Russel Belk posits that “…we regard our possessions as

part of ourselves. We are what we have and what we
posses.”
- As we grow older, putting importance to material
possession decreases.
- 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.
- The possessions that we dearly have tell something about
who we are, our self-concept, our past, and even our
future.
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
Debit Card Challenge List

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. Make a reflection paper about your
personal material self. You may use your
answers from the above questions in
making your paper.
I shop therefore I am?

Consumer culture

Shopping has turned

into a lifestyle

Issue is about what

we buy and what we
choose to invest in
Consumption and Production

Consumption – used up, to spend wastefully,

to destroy
Behind consumption, there is production
Conscious consumption is about practicing
responsible buying habits
The Problem of Consumerism

1. It is intrusive
2. It is manipulative.
3. It cannot provide many of the things that are
important to us
4. It restricts our choices and lives
5. It affects our worldviews and characters
6. It is unsustainable
Reasons for materialism

1. Alleged to provide individuals with a feeling of

security
2. Alleged to give a sense of well-being and happiness
3. Alleged to boosts self-esteem and self-confidence
4. Alleged to provide with more friends and
relationships through greater interaction
Correlates of Materialism

1. Materialism and happiness do not go well

together
2. Materialism and self-esteem show an
inverted relationship
3. Materialism and financial stability show an
inverted relationship as well
 Correlates of Materialism

4. Materialism and well-being manifest opposite relationship

5. Materialism and self-concept prove how insecurity
motivates people to work so hard for material possessions as
the same wealth becomes their source of security
6. Materialism and lack of engagement mean losing one’s
ability to empathize with others as they become callous to
other people’s needs.
Avoid the Trap

1. Exercise intellectual independence.

2. Consume less, live more.
Be Content