Social Class Background, Health Lifestyle, and the College Experience Open Access
Leibowitz, Rebecca (2011)
Abstract
Building on the work of Pierre Bourdieu in "Distinction," this study attempts to find a link between social class background and the health lifestyles of Emory undergraduate students. Twenty students, ten from lower social class backgrounds and ten from higher social class backgrounds, were interviewed in-depth about their childhood experiences, personal conceptions of health, and current health lifestyles. Students from lower social class backgrounds reported being raised in environments that neither encouraged nor modeled healthy eating and exercising. Respondents from higher social class backgrounds tended to recall their parents modeling and encouraging healthy eating and regular exercise. However, once each group of students matriculated to college, they were likely to adopt the opposing health lifestyle. Students from lower social class backgrounds often began eating healthily and exercising, while students from higher social class backgrounds frequently neglected to exercise regularly or maintain a balanced diet. The majority of students from both social class backgrounds spoke about "the college lifestyle" - a subculture that represents a break from the "real world" and promotes and normalizes rampant alcohol and drug use - as a major barrier to attaining an optimal level of health. Future research should serve to illuminate the patterns I have found in greater depth. The concept of "the college lifestyle" as a subculture with its own set of norms that imply a barrier to health should be investigated in detail.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1 Theoretical Background 3
Bourdieu and Cultural Capital 3
DiMaggio and Status Culture 4
The Body as a Manifestation of Taste 5
Bourdieu's "Body-for-others" Ideology 9
Empirical Work 9Acquisition of Cultural Capital 9
Cultural Capital and Health 12
Methods 17Sampling Technique 18
Interview Process and Coding 20
Results 22Perception and Practice of Health 22
Bourdieu's Notions 23
Exercise as Social Participation 26Social Class Background and Health Lifestyle: Higher Social Class 26
Social Class Background and Health Lifestyle: Lower Social Class 29
College Experience and Health Lifestyle: Higher Social Class 31
College Experience and Health Lifestyle: Lower Social Class 34
College Experience and Health Lifestyle: "College Lifestyle" as Barrier 37
Discussion 40Relation to Bourdieu and Warde 40
Interpretation of Findings 43
Role of College Experience 45
Limitations 46Areas for Further Research 47
Works Cited 49 Appendix 51About this Honors Thesis
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