Objects Incorporated into the ‘Extended Self’ Scale (Sivadas and Machleit 1994)

In developing their measure of objects incorporated into the extended self, Sivadas and Machleit draw primarily from Belk's (1988) view of extended self. The extended self is composed of the self plus possessions, and it contains the contribution of possessions to individual identity. The extended self is part of one's self-identity that is defined by possessions, body parts, gifts, souvenirs, and mementos. Furthermore, individuals consider objects as a part of who they are, and that a loss of self occurs if these objects or stolen or lost. Sivadas and Machleit developed a scale to assess the degree to which possessions have been incorporated into one's extended self.

Components:

There are six components to this scale which are:-

My ______________ helps achieve the identity I want to have.
My ________________ helps me narrow the gap between what I am and what I try to be
My _________________ is central to my identity
My __________________ is part of who I am
If my________________ is stolen from me I will feel as if my identity has been snatched from me
I derive some of my identity from my ______________

Description

Their scale is composed of six items scored on 7-point strongly disagree to strongly agree scales. Item scores can be summed to form an overall scale score ranging from 6 to 42.

Validity:

Across four product/person categories (i.e., car, shirt, gift, gift giver), a one-factor model representing the six items as a single dimension showed adequate levels of fit (n = 137), suggesting a unidimensional measure. Coefficient alpha estimates of internal consistency were .90, .90, .90, and .91, respectively, across the product/person categories listed above. Maximum likelihood factor loadings ranged from .536 to .938 across all product/person categories examined. Evidence of discriminant validity from measures of objects of personal relevance and objects of importance were also performed and supported. Evidence of nomological validity was offered by correlating the objects incorporated into the extended self scale with a measure of possession attachment, a measure of "taking good care o f possessions, and a measure pertaining to gift giving. Nine correlations were computed, and all were significant (p < .01), ranging from .26 to .68.

Source

Sivadas, Eugene, and Karen Machleit. (1994). "A Scale to Measure the Extent of Object Incorporation in the Extended Self." In C. Whan Park and Daniel C. Smith (Eds.), Proceedings of the American Marketing Association Winter Conference (Vol. 5, pp. 143-149). Chicago: American Marketing Association.

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Administration, Analysis and Reporting

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