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Module 3 Material Self

This section discusses how people use material possessions and lifestyle choices to maintain their sense of self. It explores how individuals acquire goods based on factors like personality, financial means, and social influences. It also distinguishes between wants and needs, and how purchases satisfy both practical utility and symbolic significance that convey identity and social status.

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rose belle garcia
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1K views2 pages

Module 3 Material Self

This section discusses how people use material possessions and lifestyle choices to maintain their sense of self. It explores how individuals acquire goods based on factors like personality, financial means, and social influences. It also distinguishes between wants and needs, and how purchases satisfy both practical utility and symbolic significance that convey identity and social status.

Uploaded by

rose belle garcia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Module 3

Section 3: The Material/Economic Self


This section focuses on how people maintain extensions of themselves
through material possessions and maintenance of particular lifestyles. In the
context of what the society values as needs and wants, this section discusses
how an individual acquires goods, the factors that shape his/her economic
decisions, and what these thingsbsay about one’s sense of self.

 People are likely to purchase products that can relate to their


personality. Material possessions signify some aspects of one’s sense of
self and identity.
 Possessions, tell a lot about their owners. Thus, one’s sense of self and
identity is influential on how an individual chooses to purchase his/her
wants and how he/she makes economic decisions that will address his/her
personal and social needs
 The decisions that go into the purchase of items and certain services is
dependent on a number of factors, including financial
constraints, availability of items and services, and the influence of family
and friends.
 However, the most important factor is determining whether these items
and services fall under:
 Wants. Synonymous with luxuries. People buy them for reasons
that do not warrant necessity.
 Needs. These are importantsl for survival. Food, clothing, and
shelther are basic needs so people purchase them out of necessity.
 In the process of acquiring material goods, people generally consider 2
things:
 Utility. Concerned with how things serve a practical purpose.
 Significance. Concerned with the meaning assigned ro the
object. It is also concerned with how objects become powerful symbols
or icons of habit and ritual which can be quite separate from their primary
function.
 To further understand the term significance, Roland Barthes studied
the concept of semiology or the study of signs. According to him, it is
through objects that people assert their identities. This idea suggests that
objects, aside from contributing to how an individual identities
himself/herself, also signify relationships of people with others based on
what they possess.
 The possession of material things also indicates one’s status in the
society. These personal choices build one’s material and economic self
which is an extension of his/her social identity.

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