A Bidimensional and Aristotelian Approach to Health Lifestyles Theory

• In Event: 557 - Theory Section Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 04. Bourdieu, Social Capital, and Subjectivity

Abstract

Researchers in sociology and public health have analyzed how behaviors from a wide variety of health domains combine to form overarching health lifestyles, but the development of these health lifestyles has been undertheorized. Building on research in sociology and public health, this article presents an updated version of Cockerham’s Bourdieusian Health Lifestyles Theory, one that maintains the centrality of the habitus but also takes into account the bidimensionality of health behaviors and the Aristotelian concept of “telos” for understanding how and why we consume health goods along these two dimensions. The article concludes by discussing the implications of this new theory for public health interventions.

Author

• Carolyn Robbins, Emory University