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