A person’s lifestyle is a set of attitudes, patterns, values and practices that influence how they live. It’s the way they choose to spend their time, money and energy influenced by their interests, resources, needs, and societal norms.
People adopt different lifestyles depending on the culture in which they live and their socioeconomic status. It can also change as a result of personal experiences, family or health conditions. Changing a lifestyle can be difficult, but taking it one step at a time can help. If you need support during a lifestyle change, consider reaching out to a mental health counselor.
The concept of lifestyle is complex and has a long history in the social sciences, from its origins in sociology to current research on psychology and health. The term was first used by the German sociologist Georg Simmel to describe the self-determined individual and collective shaping of everyday life. He believed that lifestyles were a result of the development of an individual’s personality and reflected the social structures around them.
Sociological analyses of lifestyles have included the work of Max Weber, who defined lifestyle as the cultural practice that defines a specific mode of living in society. During the 1970s and 1980s, anthropologists focused on how people use food, clothing, housing, recreation and entertainment to satisfy their needs and preferences. They also looked at the relationship between lifestyle and social class.
More recently, psychologists have explored the concept of lifestyle in terms of mental and behavioural factors. Some have interpreted the concept as principally styles of thought, as in Alfred Adler’s theory of personality. Others, such as Milton Rokeach, Arnold Mitchell and Lynn R Kahle, have considered how the underlying motivations of people drive their lifestyles. These motivations are based on a hierarchy of needs. These include the need for security and gratification, as well as the desire to reach higher levels of achievement.
Finally, Pierre Bourdieu has renewed the concept of lifestyle as a form of habitus, which is a personalised system of meanings and a modus vivendi that defines a particular cultural field. He has viewed lifestyle as the social determinants of health and argued that they are key in shaping an individual’s experience. The various definitions of lifestyles and the various theories of their formation and evolution are consistent with the idea that a lifestyle is a complex construct with internal dimensions, external dimensions and a temporal dimension. However, it remains unclear how these dimensions intersect to shape a lifestyle. A better understanding of this concept is needed to guide research into the role it plays in improving the social determinants of health.
