2%
Me, My body, My My Strangers,
Free will, My conscience, belongings, friends, Physical universe
Drs AIOat OF SPORE
(McClelland, 1951, p. 539)
McClelland cites Allport’s (1937) concept of extension of self, Rogers’ (1948) suggestion that
control is the criterion for inclusion in the self, Bruner’s (1951) concept of self-potency, and
Piaget's (1930) description of force and control as the basis of the child's sense of self. Neither
McClelland nor his sources cite James and thus may represent quite independent
redevelopments.
The hypotheses that possessions are a perceived part of the self and that perceived
proximity to self is a direct function of power and control were tested experimentally by
Prelinger (1959). He had 60 adult males sort 160 items representative of eight categories of
parts of the self into into four levels of proximity to the self. Results showed body parts to be
closest to the self, followed by psychological and body processes, personal identifying
characteristics, and finally possessions and productions. Not-self categories were abstract
ideas, other people, close physical environment, and distant physical environment. Prelinger
(1959) then had five judges identify which of the 160 items were controlled by people, which
controlled people, or which were neutral on control. He found that proximity to self was
inversely related to neutrality of control, and he might have noted the perfect rank-order
correlation of control and proximity for those categories of items that were judged part of the
self.
Dixon and Street (1975) replicated Prelinger’s (1959) study on boys and girls aged six to
sixteen and found possessions to be marginally a part of the self, with slightly more inclusion
as children got older. Using another research method, that of asking people to describe
themselves, Jersild (1952), Gordon (1968), and Keller, Ford and Meacham (1978) found that
possessions and ownership roles are not mentioned frequently and that the tendency is for less
mention of possessions as children get older. Most recently, Belk (1987) had 248 adults do the
Prelinger task, using 37 self-generated items and 59 experimenter-selected items. He found
dwellings, clothing, and vehicles to be possessions closest to the self. An analysis of sex
differences showed the self-possessions of men to be accomplishment-oriented and those of
women to be people-oriented and self-expressive. As a group, these studies confirm the
James-McClelland hypothesis that material possessions are perceived as a distant part of the