According to James, what are the components of a person’s sense of self? What role does clothing seem to play in our sense of self, in James’s view?
The sense of self is categorized into three components. The first one is material self. This self includes things which are owned by a person like his body, style or dress, and family. James gave much importance to clothing.
The second sense of self is social. It refers to the reaction one gets from others. James said that a person presents his different sides of personality when he is with different sets of people. The third sense of self is spiritual. This self refers to a person’s inner and subjective thing.
James believed that a person’s sense of dressing not only influences the material self but also the others. Social and spiritual sense of self is also influenced by the style of clothes. Also, how a person is judged is, partially dependent on how he or she dresses.
Clothing can be a form of expressing oneself. James himself dressed very differently. He wore clothes that allowed him to be easily spotted. He dressed quite differently from the normal social way. He wore polka-dot bow tie, and paired it with checked pants and a bright colored shirt. He wanted to look different in the crowd in a good way.