Lemery Colleges, Inc.

A. Bonifacio St., Brgy. Bagong Sikat, Lemery, Batangas

Academic Year 2020-2021 FIRST

SEMESTER

An Instructional Module and

Compilation of Resources in
GE 101: Understanding the Self

NAME OF
STUDENT Jesus L. Mendoza
YEAR & SECTION BSCA- 1A
Course Code : GE 101
Course Description : Understanding the Self
Credit Unit : 3 Units Instructor :

NOTE
No part of this compilation may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
prior written consent of the institution.

Lesson 6
TOPIC: THE MATERIAL SELF

DURATION: 1 WEEK
PREFERRED DELIVERY: Video/ Recorded Lecture/Printed Module

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this module, students will have completed the following objectives:
1. Explain the association of self and possessions.
 Lemery Colleges, Inc.
A. Bonifacio St., Brgy. Bagong Sikat, Lemery, Batangas

2. Identify the role of consumer culture of self and identity.

3. Appraise one’s self based on the description of material self.

TO DO LIST

Reading o Course Content and Lecture in Module 1

Lesson 6 (page 56-58)

Take Activity #6

COURSE CONTENT

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.
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.
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 Hermàn
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 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 we are put to shame or guilt. When they are in
 Lemery Colleges, Inc.
A. Bonifacio St., Brgy. Bagong Sikat, Lemery, Batangas

disadvantage situation there is an urgent urge to help like a voluntary instinct of saving one's self from
as 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
Russel Belk (1988) posits that "...we regard our possessions as part of ourselves. We are what
we have and what we posses." 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.

REFERENCE/S

• Alata, E.J.P. et al (2018). Understanding the Self. Rex Book Store, Inc., Quezon City,
Philippines.

• Dittmer, H. The Individual Centered Approach: Material Possessions as Parts of the Extended
Self. Pp. 41 – 64 and Possessions as Symbolic Expressions of Identity. Pp 95 – 121 in The
Social Psychology of Material Possessions: To Have is to Be? St. Martin’s Press. (Para sa
paksang Pagbubukas ng Sarili – Ang Materyal/Ekonomikong Sarili)

• Villafuerte, S., Quillope, A., Tunac, R., & Borja, E. (2018). Understanding the Self. Quezon
City: NIEME Publishing House Co. LTD.

ACTIVITY #6
NAME Jesus L. Mendoza DATE 12/06/20

YEAR & BSCA- 1A SCORE:

 Lemery Colleges, Inc.
A. Bonifacio St., Brgy. Bagong Sikat, Lemery, Batangas

SECTION

DIRECTION: Create an artwork of your treasured possession that has significant impact or influence
for who you are right now. You may use symbols or pictures and put a short explanation.

As you can see in the picture

these pair is all dirtied and is in
bad condition but I still wear it
despite of that. I bought this
shoes back in early 2017 when I
asked my mom if I could buy a
pair of shoes on my choice (I'd never felt having a concrete decision of mine
back then) and she said that I could buy one, so I got excited and start to
browse online for shoes to buy, the amount of money she gave me wasn't
that big so I looked for the best possible cheap shoes I could have, and
there I found this Superga shoes from an online store. I knew this would be
my very shoes, and from that I ordered it, I was really excited to have it to
come to my door, the day it was delivered I was all home alone and I hadn't
told my father that it was already delivered, when I paid the delivery and
had the transaction done, I immediately unboxed it and never in my mind
that I had any regrets in me when I pretty much heedlessly ordered it,
because I knew it was perfect, I could tell. Not to mention it was the most
priciest shoes I had ever bought before, for somewhere 2000 php. It was all
worth buying it, I still have it in me and wear it occasionally, it has been with
me from near to distant places.

Rubric:
a) Content : 40%
b) Creativity : 40%
c) Originality : 15%
d) Cleanliness : 5%
Lemery Colleges, Inc.
A. Bonifacio St., Brgy. Bagong Sikat, Lemery, Batangas