Individuality and Self-Presentation: Personality as an Object and Subject of Consumption in Modern Society

Psychology

Authors

  • Ekaterina A. Urusova Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University named after Kozma Minin. Kozma Minin, 1 Ulianov St., Nizhny Novgorod, 603950

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17072/2078-7898/2019-1-75-82

Keywords:

personality, individuality, self-presentation, object of consumption, subject of consumption, consumer society, Internet communications, corporeality, body as an object of consumption, virtual reality, media images

Abstract

By engaging in the process of consumption, a person not only constructs his or her individual existence and social reality, but also builds up his or her individuality, relying on symbols popular in the environment. Attempts to manifest one's own individuality come up against socially accepted ways of self-presentation as well as evaluations by others, which raises the question: what and how to present? The openness of the ways of self-presentation leads to the spread of interest in certain aspects and characteristics of the personality, and also causes its transition into the category of the object of consumption. In this case, the desire to get a positive external evaluation on the part of others entails a "minimization" of personality due to the demonstration of only certain aspects of their most in demand (i.e., the most "consumable"). Such a process is related to the desire to satisfy the need for recognition and respect, to supplement the qualities, features, characteristics of the image of the "I" or to hide the lack of basic reality and understanding of oneself as a whole person. On the other hand, the identification of oneself in the socio-cultural space, in the reference group leads to the search and isolation of separate individuals, causing the greatest interest. The individual, becoming a subject of consumption, objectifies the other endowed with desirable qualities and characteristics by consuming the content it broadcasts. However, this process of consumption causes a feeling of incompleteness and inferiority of the self due to the impossibility of possessing the desired qualities and causes more and more searching for objects of consumption, estrangement from one's own individuality and loss of one's own self.

Author Biography

Ekaterina A. Urusova, Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University named after Kozma Minin. Kozma Minin, 1 Ulianov St., Nizhny Novgorod, 603950

Lecturer in the Department of Practical Psychology

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Published

2019-03-30

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