The Max Weber Lifestyle: Re-enumiring the Lifelong Experience
What is a LIFESTYLE? by itself might sound like a meaningless word, but the definition actually has a lot of information to provide. Simply put, LIFESTYLE is a concept that defines the concept of being a human being. It’s important to understand the distinction between human beings and other animals because the former don’t have a language of their own and only communicate through body language, while the latter have language organs. Language, which is a social tool that enables humans to talk to each other, was not an innate feature of human beings, but appeared on their origins through socialization.
Lifestyle is the general attitudes, interests, behaviors, and orientations of a person, group, or society. The word was first introduced by Austrian psychological analyst Alfred Adler in his famous book, The Case of Miss R. which means “a woman’s basic nature as determined early in life”. In more recent years, the Lifestyle concept has been used to describe many aspects of life and culture, including the elements that define a culture.
There are many elements of the Lifestyle that may be identified, but the concept is usually considered as a combination of three things: individual traits, particular lifestyles (or lifestyles), and the attributes of the place (or regions). Individual traits include such characteristics as attitudes, beliefs, personal qualities, and behavior. These are then grouped into groups like social classes. A few common traits that are shared by most people in a specific area are their attitudes toward people, their level of assertiveness, their level of self-discipline, and their ability to work productively and earn a living. People’s behaviors include their norms or customary rules regarding children, land, leisure time, marriage, divorce, and even within a specific culture or country. Finally, the physical environment includes the aspects of natural geography and climate.
The elements of the Lifestyle are then broken down into several categories. The most common element is Max Weber’s five elements of the Lifestyle: Individualism, Efficient Efficiency, Creativity, Fraternity, and Investment. These are all important and highly effective when it comes to a person’s development and progress. All of these elements promote a positive and progressive lifestyle. However, the five elements of the Lifestyle also lend themselves to several different types of lifestyles. These include sport and recreational activities, religion and spirituality, high-end professional pursuits, ethnic and cultural practices, work specialization, and even within specific occupational fields and careers.
In order for a person to fully understand and appreciate the five elements of the Lifestyle, he or she needs to identify the varying elements in each lifestyle that contribute to the individual’s progress and development. Within the Max Weber framework, there are five key factors or elements that form the foundation of the way people experience and express themselves. These elements are concrete behaviors and traits that create an individual’s sense of who they are as an individual. It is from these concrete behavioral traits and behaviors that the individual can learn and apply positive lifestyle principles and ideas towards his or her life.
The concept of Max Weber’s Lifestyle encompasses the individual psychology of a person. The five elements of the Lifestyle are the basis for how a person reacts to situations and determines their level of success, not overall. Therefore, a person cannot develop the positive lifestyle principles and ideas of his or her thinking and behavior do not embrace the appropriate mindset. It must first be identified and examined. Once the individual has identified the elements of the Lifestyle that need to be changed, he or she can apply his or her personal psychology towards creating and fostering the proper mental framework needed to adopt positive and pro-active lifestyle choices and attitudes.