A person’s lifestyle is a reflection of their values, attitudes, and worldview. It may also include their dietary choices, physical activity level, and social activities. Choosing to live a healthy lifestyle can help an individual feel more energetic, maintain a healthier weight, and avoid health problems such as heart disease and diabetes.
A healthy lifestyle can help a person better manage stress. This is because it promotes balance in the body and mind, which can help to reduce levels of cortisol, the hormone that causes stress. Moreover, regular exercise can help to release endorphins that can improve mood and increase feelings of well-being. Lastly, living a healthy lifestyle can also help to save money in the long run, since it can help prevent diseases and illnesses.
The concept of a lifestyle has been a major research topic in the field of psychological and sociological studies. However, there are several different interpretations of this term. To address this, this narrative review focuses on the main explicit definitions of the concept in the literature and proposes a reconsideration of them along three interpretative keys: internal, external, and temporal.
Some definitions of lifestyle place greater emphasis on the internal dimension, which includes personality characteristics or a system of values and attitudes. Other definitions are more influenced by the external dimension, which consists of behavioural patterns that affect consumption or risk behaviours. Finally, a third approach views lifestyle as a complex and interactive process between the individual and their environment.
In terms of the external dimension, most of the available theories highlight that an individual’s behavioural patterns are influenced by their economic situation and the culture in which they live. They may also be affected by social factors such as peer pressure and the media. Some of these perspectives also consider that lifestyle is a consequence of individual personality traits and that these personality traits influence a person’s motivations, attitudes, and choices.
The most common interpretation of lifestyle in the field of health psychology focuses on the presence and frequency of risk behaviours that could be modified through targeted educational campaigns. Nonetheless, there are a number of criticisms to this approach. For example, it is not clear whether the existence of risk behaviours is related to the individual’s lifestyle or whether it is a result of a relationship between personal and environmental factors.
This study demonstrates that the lifestyle concept is a controversial one, and a more comprehensive approach is needed to develop a meaningful theoretical and research model. A model that considers the interaction between individual and environmental factors and recognises that the meaning of an individual’s lifestyle is a dynamic process that changes over time. This model could be a useful tool to inform the development of interventions designed to promote a healthy lifestyle. This would require the collaboration of different disciplines, including health psychology, public health, and sociology. This collaboration would have the potential to lead to the identification of key elements that characterise a healthy lifestyle.
