Material/economic Self Flashcards
Why does the concept of self change?
Because of circumstances and influences
“Idealized people associated with [the good]”
Symbolism inherent in consumer goods
“Lifestyle and identity instruction that convey unadulterated marketplace ideologies”
Consumer culture images
Symbolic meanings of actual good advertised
Successful, happy, attractive, and glamorous
the sociocultural, experiential, symbolic, and ideological aspects of consumption
Consumer Culture
how consumers supposedly maximize utility when they decide which products to purchase, or cognitive psychology
Rational Choice
is an entity that stands for another entity, and most importantly it can have meaning only to the extent that it has a shared reality among people
Symbol
Why a is a fashion designer can only be considered trendy?
Others share the belief that that is indeed fashionable
Advertisement in Consumer Culture is based on two concepts which are ?
Body perfect
Material “good life”
Ideal identities
THE “BODY PERFECT” AND THE “GOOD LIFE”
Strong sociocultural pressure
Body perfect
connected with desirable qualities that are not directly related to appearance.
Halo effect
“what is beautiful is good”
Body perfect
Who said “Beauty is a greater recommendation that any letter of introduction”
Aristotle, fourth century b.c.
What is the sociocultural ideal of female beauty?
Ultra-thinness
What have been central to the identity of many women and girls?
Appearance, beauty, and the perfect body
Affluent lifestyle, studded with expensive consumer goods, possessions, and activities
Good Life
Associated with success, control and autonomy
Good life
Consumer Culture, through the “Body Perfect” and the Material “Good life” directly and indirectly affects the ___________ __ _________ of an individual
Concept of identity
What does advertising in particular abounds with what type of images?
Ideal identity: good life and body perfect
Both have associated values, concerning materialism and the ideal body, which individuals internalize to different degrees as part of their ________ ______ ______?
Personal belief system
American philosopher and psychologist, a leader of the philosophical movement of pragmatism and a founder of the psychological movement of functionalism.
William James
famous for helping to found psychology as a formal discipline, for establishing the school of functionalism in psychology, and for greatly advancing the movement of pragmatism in philosophy.
William James
What are components the William James described?
Constituents
Self feelings
Self-seeking and preservation
How is the constituent of self composed of?
Social self
Material self
Spiritual self
Pure ego
Is possessions part of one self?
Yes
it is clear that between what a man calls me and what he simply calls mine the line is difficult to draw . . . a man’s self is the sum total of what he CAN call his, not only his body and his psychic powers, but his clothes and his house, . . . his reputation and works, his land and horses, and bank account . . . If they wax and prosper, he feels triumphant; if they dwindle and die away, he feels cast down.
A close link between possession and self
Material objects
Self-extensions
Example of material objects that are self-extensions
Tools, musical instruments, books, houses, cars, bikes, clothes, and jewellery
Can there be a dividing line between extended self through possessions on one hand and a core self on the other?
No
Is unintentional loss of one’s possession, should be regarded as a loss or lessening of self?
Yes
Example of unintentional loss of possession and lessening of one self
Handbag snatching can produce not only financial but also an emotional,
long-term effects on victims.
What os meaning of material self for William James?
bodies, clothes, immediate family and home
We are deeply affected by these things because we have put much investment of our self to them.
bodies, clothes, immediate family and home
as the innermost part.
Body
essential part of the material self.
Clothes
hold another great important part of our self
Family
is where our heart is
Home
We are directly attached to this commodity that we cannot live without.
Body
We strive hard to make that this body functions well and do good.
Body
Why do we have certain preferential attachment or intimate closeness to certain body parts?
Because od its value to us
What was William James influence to believe that clothes is one essential part of material self?
“Philosophy of Dress” by Hermann Lotze
Who said this? “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 making it part of the self.”
Lotze
What is the effect of fabric and style of clothes we wear?
Bring sensations and affect our attitudes and behavior
Clothing is a form of ____-_________?
Self-expression
nearest replica of our self.
Immediate family
Why do Our parents and siblings hold another great important part of our self.
What they do or become affects us
Example of what does immediate family do or become that affects us.
When a member of the family dies a part of ourselves dies too. The success of our parents and siblings is also our success, same with their failures and shame.
It is the earliest nest of our selfhood
Home
an extension of self because in it we directly connect our self
Home
Does having investment of self to things made us more more attached to it?
Yes
If the item of someone you love was left behind by that person as he passed away, do we regard his items in high regard?
Yes
Does having collection in different degree of investment of self becomes part of the self?
Yes
Conclusions for material self
• “we regard our possessions as part of ourselves. We are what we have and what we posses.” (Russel Belk, 1988)
• The possessions that we dearly have tell something about who we are, our self-concept, our past and even our future.
