In his famous work, The Case of Miss R, Austrian psychiatrist and philosopher Alfred Adler described LIFESTYLE as the single most important dynamic in determining human behavior. According to him, human behavior is determined by three elements: (a) the environment in which the person grows up; (b) his experiences in childhood and his interactions with his parents and other adults; (c) his attitude and disposition towards his environment and others. According to Adler, LIFESTYLE combines these three aspects to determine a person’s basic personality and its subsequent development.
LIFESTYLE is an abstract concept, but to many people it has solid ground. The most eminent social psychologists, including Weber and Chares Dickens, used LIFESTYLE as a model for identifying and analyzing different kinds of personality. More specifically, Dickens used LIFESTYLE to explain different facets of Victorian life, such as the way in which social class influences an individual’s behavior and emotions, the influence of the home on his behavior, and finally the role that religion plays in influencing people’s behaviors. On the other hand, some social scientists, such as Burns and Bratslavsky, have interpreted LIFESTYLE as reflecting specific patterns of behavior, such as traits related to self-discipline, achievement orientation, and power orientation.
Adler, in his article, LIFESTYLE, gives detailed descriptions and examples of the model. He starts with an overview of the concept, then goes into four categories of LIFESTYLE, which are a) emotional/interpersonal life style; b) lifestyle content; c) leisure style and d) occupational content. Lifestyle content refers to an individual’s attitudes and behaviors that are related to his relationships with other people, the type of organizations he belongs to, and his occupational goals. The key to Lifestyle content is that they tend to mirror and stereotype a range of aspects of American life.
Lifestyle is therefore an important aspect of individual psychology, especially in today’s social media environment. The key idea behind Lifestyle, according to Alfred Adler, is that people can choose their own path in life. Adler maintains that the choices we make determine the kind of life that we experience. So, if you want to make changes in your life or in the direction of your life, then you should try to identify the sources of your resistance, your fears, your insecurities, and your preferences, which you can use to alter these aspects of your life and improve your quality of life.
One of the areas in which Lifestyle is practiced by many people is via lifestyle programs, which are based on the works of anthropologists and sociologists, such as those found in W. Edwards Deming’s book “rients and elements in human behavior”, and in Robert Sussman’s work “Man’s Search for Meaning”. These experts suggest that we should focus on three different aspects of lifestyle when trying to change ourselves. The first aspect of Lifestyle is Physical, which involves what you eat, your environment, and your Lifestyle prescription, which are comprised of your attitude toward money, status, authority, and desire for fame and power. The second aspect of Lifestyle is Social, which includes all the things that you do as part of your everyday life, which can include your relationships with other people, your leisure time, your physical health, your financial situation, your habits, your values, your beliefs, your education, and your interests. Finally, the third aspect of Lifestyle is Aesthetic, which includes your cultural values, your standards of personal hygiene, your moral standards, your beliefs about beauty, your artistic tastes, your career path, your recreational activities, and your travel routines.
In a similar vein, we would say that the goal of this paper is to explore how the perspectives of Alfred Adler and Max Weber define happiness and unhappiness. Specifically, we will discuss (in an introductory post) whether Adler’s “atonement” theory is a satisfactory model of human happiness, whether there are reliable psychological tests of happiness and unhappiness, and whether there are important philosophical issues involved in the search for defining a satisfactory level of human happiness. Finally, we will examine whether there is a meaningful connection between art and personal happiness, and whether or not Max Weber’s concept of self-liquidation sheds light on this matter. Our hope is that this introductory post can help you navigate this intriguing literature. We thank you for reading our paper.