The social psychology of material possessions

Dittmar, Helga

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Document type:: Book

Collection:: POP - Possession, Ownership, Property

Title:: The social psychology of material possessions: to have is to be

Author:: Dittmar, Helga

Publisher:: Harvester Wheatsheaf [u.a.]

Place of publication:: Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

Year of publication:: 1992

Language:: English

Subject:: Eigentum Besitzstreben Sozialpsychologie

Note:: Literaturverz. S. 207 - 238

Topic:: C - Psychology

Shelfmark:: C/D617

Access:: Physisches Exemplar Sondersammlung POP

viii Contents The first treasured possession Language acquisition and possessive behaviour Possession disputes and early self-definition Instruments of control and power Acquisition of specific possession-related concepts Political and economic socialization Summary Instrumental and symbolic extensions of the adult self Furby’s control model Consumer products as expressions of personality The instrumental-symbolic dichotomy Conclusion Notes A social constructionist perspective: Possessions as material symbols of identity The social constructionist perspective The concept of identity Abandoning ‘absolute truth’ does not mean ‘anything goes’ A symbolic interactionist view of material identity Material objects and early self-awareness The symbolic dimension of material objects Socially shared meaning systems Overstretching the language metaphor The possessions—identity link A symbolic-communicational model of and identity Concluding comments Notes Possessions as symbolic expressions of identity Status symbols Gift-giving: accepting and imposing identities Consumer goods revisited Symbolic self-completion Is enough ever enough? Pets as self-extensions Life in institutions Personal storehouses of meaning: life and beyond The home as identity shell Favourite possessions as markers of age, sex and culture Conclusion Notes POSSESSIONS 48 49 50 1 54 55 6 7 8 60 61 62 64 65 67 73 74 75 77 79 81 R3 88 92 04 95 96 97 98 101 103 107 108 109 112 115 119 121

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