A lifestyle is the set of behavioural habits, attitudes, and values that characterise a person’s life. These can include food choices, health habits, exercise routines, personal beliefs and values, work patterns, and the way they organize their time. A healthy lifestyle is one that enables a person to live in good physical and mental condition, while reducing their risk of serious illness.
The concept of lifestyle has been defined in different ways by researchers from various disciplines. These definitions and results are often not comparable to each other, making it difficult to compare studies. Moreover, it is not clear how these definitions relate to the concept of health. This paper aims to shed light on these issues by considering the main models and theories of lifestyle in the psychological and sociological fields, reconsidering them along three dimensions: internal, external, and temporal.
Psychologists have been occupied with the concept of lifestyle since the first decades of the twentieth century. Alfred Adler was the first to define it as a style of personality, arguing that the framework of guiding principles and values developed in an individual’s early years determines his or her reactions and behaviour throughout life.
Others analysed the lifestyle in terms of the way an individual uses his or her resources. For example, Berkman and Gilson analysed the lifestyle of a person by assessing his or her consumption behaviours. Their study highlighted that consumption behaviours can be a way of communicating status-role identities, as well as of associating meaning with daily activities.
Finally, other readings considered the social context of a person as a source of their lifestyle. According to this view, the lifestyle of a person can be determined by their social group or class, and it is differentiated from other people’s lifestyles through their common culture. It can also be affected by the location in which they live, such as whether they are located in a rural environment or urban metropolis.
Theories that prefer an external interpretation of lifestyle are more anchored in sociological concepts and research. They emphasise that the lifestyle of a person is the result of his or her sociodemographic characteristics, preferences, and choices, and that it can vary from one individual to another. They also consider that the choice of lifestyles is determined by a variety of factors such as available options and levels of freedom, the quality of available services, and cultural, geographic, and historical characteristics.
The final trend in the discussion of the lifestyle construct focuses on a vision of health practices as part of a person’s lifestyle. This approach emphasises the importance of a holistic understanding of health, including physical, mental, and spiritual aspects. It views a healthy lifestyle as a person’s ability to live in harmony with his or her life circumstances and the natural and cultural environments that surround him or her. It includes a range of healthy activities and habits such as regular exercise; balanced diets; abstaining from smoking and taking nonessential drugs; and restful sleep.
