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Research has shown that experiences constitute a bigger part of our sense of self than our material possessions. This is because our possessions, no matter how many we have of them, remain physically outside of our ´self´, whereas experiences live on in our memories and are part of our ´stories´. As they become parts of our autobiography, they become us.
Declarative memory consists of episodic and semantic memory. Semantic memory is our storage of general knowledge about the world and where we ´summarize´ our sense of self (e.g. “I am a good cook”). Episodic memory consists of our first-hand recollections of experiences that confirm the summaries we have about ourselves (e.g. “Last Christmas I made a fantastic dinner for the family”). It is through our memories that we create our sense of self. Once we have lived an experience, it persists as an episodic memory that is autobiographical by nature and creates our self-concept. Someone´s memories of a possession (or the use of possessions as an extended self) do also connect material possessions to the self, but to a much lesser degree.
Material purchases are the tangible objects purchased with the goal of ownership. Materialistic purchases are purchases made with the intent of signaling wealth or status, either to oneself or others. Materialistic people tend to make materialistic purchases and derive much of their happiness from signaling their wealth. They often measure their success by their wealth and define themselves and others based on their purchases, status, and wealth. There are big differences in people´s interest in materialistic consumption. It is possible that these personality differences moderate the tendency for people´s experiences to constitute a bigger part of their self-image.
An experience only becomes materialistic when the additional utility one derives from the extra expense is less about the experience itself, and more about the signal it sends. Material possessions often serve the materialistic purpose better than experiences, because they are more visible and are better at signaling someone´s status and prosperity.
Experiences become especially satisfying as a result of their closer connection to the self. The first reason for that is due to the self-serving bias. It is human nature to evaluate oneself more positively, and evaluating the quality of one´s experiences is like evaluating aspects of oneself. The second reason is that the subjective nature of experiences makes it easier to find positive dimensions of evaluation. The ambiguity of experiences creates the possibility of different interpretations, whereas that is difficult of a material possession that is not good. The last reason is that accomplishing a higher order goal usually takes on special importance and is tied even closer to our sense of self. Because experiences are relatively abstract, they are more likely than possessions to be construed at a high level.
Je vertrek voorbereiden of je verzekering afsluiten bij studie, stage of onderzoek in het buitenland
Study or work abroad? check your insurance options with The JoHo Foundation
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