1. The document discusses William James' theory of the material self, which refers to the tangible elements that comprise one's identity, including one's body, clothes, immediate family, and home. 2. It provides examples of how people invest themselves in their material possessions and see them as part of their self, such as feeling victories or failures of family as their own and having strong attachments to certain body parts and homes. 3. The document instructs students to do an activity where they list items they would buy with a debit card and to categorize them as relating to body, clothes, family, or home to understand how material possessions shape one's self-concept.

1. Material Self
Prepared by:
Orlando A. Pistan, MAEd-GC
Psychology Instructor

2. Activity: Debit Card
Challenge
1 whole sheet of yellow paper
A very rich man gave you a debit card and told you
to use it as much as you want to make yourself
happy.
Make a list of what you want to have and buy. Write
as many as you want.

3. Activity: Debit Card
Challenge
Answer the following questions:
1. How do you feel as you do the Debit Card
Challenge?
2. Which among the items in your list you like the
most? Why? Select just one.
3. If ever you were given the chance in real life to
have one among the list, which would you
choose? Why?

4. William James
 A Harvard psychologist in the
late 19th century.
 Wrote a book entitled “The
Principles of Psychology” in
1890.
 According to him,
understanding the self can be
examined through its different
components.
1. Material self
2. Social self
3. Spiritual self

5. Components of Self
1. Material Self – refers to the tangible elements of the
self. (body, clothes, immediate family and home)
2. Social Self – encompasses our interaction with our self
and other people. (relatives, friends, schoolmates,
workmates)
3. Spiritual Self – reflects our values, morals and beliefs.
(views on the essence of being human and life)

6. Material Self Investment
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.
Any ailment directly affects us. We
do have certain preferential
attachment or intimate closeness to
certain body parts because of its
value to us.

7. Material Self Investment
Clothes
The fabric and style of the clothes
we wear bring sensations to the
body to which directly affect our
attitudes and behavior.
Clothing is a form of self-expression.
We choose and wear clothes that
reflect our self.

8. Material Self Investment
Immediate Family
Our parents and siblings hold
another great important part of our
self. What they do or become affects
us. When an immediate family 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. We also share their
failures and shame. We care, love
and protect our immediate family.

9. Material Self Investment
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.”

10. Summary
1. We identify our self through the things we have
and possess.
2. Possessions become part of the self.
3. “A man’s self is the sum total of all what he CAN
call his” – William James.

11. Application:
Go back to your Debit Card Challenge list. Put a mark
on the left side of each item with the following
categories:
A. Item related with your body
B. Item related with your clothes
C. Item related with your family
D. Item related with your home

12. Material Self
Thank you for
paying attention.