The 8 types of lifestyle (and their characteristics)

The term "lifestyle" encompasses a series of interests, behaviors, opinions and orientations that an individual, group or culture adopt throughout their existence.. It is a combination of tangible and intangible elements, as some of one's own habits can quantified, while beliefs, perceptions and learnings are their own and not applicable to the rest of the people.

Undoubtedly, demographic and geographic variables significantly influence lifestyle, and it should be noted that these are relatively applicable to common population centers. For example, statistically a child will be more active than an elderly person, and a person living in the tropics will tend to wear shorter clothes than someone living in Finland.

These are some of the tangible variables that dictate the lifestyle, since the ambient temperature, living in a rural area or physiological conditioning factors follow similar behavior patterns in a convergent. On the other hand, the psychological aspects of the individual (values, beliefs, judgments and personal experiences) are non-transferable and unique

, although in all cases they are influenced by the social environment. Based on these very interesting premises, today we show you the 8 types of lifestyle and their characteristics.

• We recommend you read: "The 12 fundamental principles of 'realfooding'"

What are the lifestyles in general?

As lifestyle is an ethereal and subjective social construct, we cannot provide you with typical lifestyles according to a series of infallible parameters applicable in all cases. For this reason, we present you some striking lifestyles that are defined by parameters such as health, currents of thought, social conception and many other heterogeneous variables. Do not miss it.

1. Activist

Activism is a term that designates behaviors based on promoting, preventing, directing or intervening in economic, political, social and / or environmental spheres in order to achieve a perceived “greater purpose”. Activism is not only going to a demonstration one day a year, but it also requires the putting into practice what is preached on a day-to-day basis, in the most ethical or convenient way that the individual.

Thus, a person who perceives himself as an activist is one who is guided by a series of moral parameters in his day to day, consequently to his beliefs and predicaments. For example, a vegetarian person leads a lifestyle based on activism, as their daily caloric intake depends on of his beliefs and of a greater purpose, be it at the level of avoiding animal suffering, ecosystem conservation or both.

2. Ascetic

The ascetic lifestyle seeks purification of the spirit in a religious setting, through self-imposed denial of physical or psychological pleasures. An ascetic person may decide to leave the social nucleus in which he finds himself in order to pursue practices or, failing that, remain part of the population, but always with austerity as flag.

Asceticism pays special attention to the rejection of sexual pleasures in order to achieve salvation, redemption, or a deeper spirituality. Self-imposed constrictions, for those who practice them, suppose a liberation in several areas, both physical and emotional, or at least this is how these people perceive it. Virtually all religions on Earth show some trace of asceticism in their doctrines.

3. Primitivist

We enter into somewhat complex issues, as they are highly subjective and depend on a baggage of knowledge that is a bit difficult to circumscribe in a few lines. Primitivism is a philosophical current that advocates a "return to naturalness", strongly criticizing the characteristics of modern civilization, full of stimuli, problems and increasingly far from the parameters that shaped us as a species.

People with a primitivist lifestyle and approach see in everything natural (and therefore pre-civilized) genuine characteristics and positive, while they consider as doubtful the "conquests" or impositions at the colonialist, sociological, technological and knowledge level scientific. In short, this current of thought advocates "going back to basics."

4. Bohemian

A person with a bohemian lifestyle is one who leads an unconventional routine, generally in social nuclei of like-minded people and with few constraints at the level of relationships and / or material goods. Generally, bohemia is associated with vague, eccentric and adventurous people, without fear of exploring the limits of society by means of musical, literary, pictorial and other artistic currents or spiritual.

Bohemian people have historically been associated with unorthodox or unorthodox sociopolitical views. antisystem type, since departing from the norm usually implies breaking with certain constructs at the legal. For this reason, it tends to present connotations of low purchasing power, few material goods and scarce future plans.

5. Nomadic

Traditionally, the term nomadism has been associated with human childhood, specifically with prehistoric periods such as the Paleolithic, where small tribes moved to different parts of the regions in order to keep up with maximum production food. Today, this term has acquired many other connotations.

In the 20th century, the proportion of "classical" nomads on Earth has declined markedly, but even so a total of 30-40 million nomads have been estimated in 1995. There are relics of the population that still embrace nomadism as a preferred lifestyle, especially in inclement climatic zones such as the tundra or the desert. This has a clear evolutionary sense, since these lands are not suitable for cultivation and permanent settlement.

To this day, the term "nomadism" has been coined to designate generations of young people looking to try their luck in different regions, without a fixed residence. The connotations, as you can imagine, are very different, and to some extent it is another tool to romanticize or accept precariousness.

6. Frugalist

A person with a frugal lifestyle is characterized by maximizing available resources. According to people who follow this current of thought, frugalism is not about stinginess, but about economically consuming food, time and money in order to achieve a long-term goal.

The frugalist does not dispense with activities that give him pleasure or deprive himself of worldly goods, but rather consumes them sporadically in order to consciously enjoy them to the fullest, without falling into whims and ostentatious unnecessary. On a philosophical level, frugalism is characterized by not trusting global markets and the consumerist social trend, preferring austerity and acquisition at the local level.

7. Traditionalist

The traditionalist lifestyle, in reality, is completely linked to the Catholic movement, being concepts practically interchangeable. Catholic traditionalism advocates the maintenance of the family structure in the eyes of God, the conservation and practice of traditions (liturgical forms and devotions) and a moderate attitude towards social changes.

On the other hand, political traditionalism is usually linked to a reactionary and / or conservative ideal, that is, return to the political organization of past times or avoid profound changes at the social level. Unfortunately, this often means that the disadvantaged remain disadvantaged and minorities continue to be oppressed. In a changing and increasingly intersectional society, the traditionalist figure has little place.

8. Back to the land (back to earth)

This last curious lifestyle lacks a nominal translation into Spanish, as it appeared as a North American social movement during the 1960s and 1970s. The people who carry it out defend the simple life in rural areas, outdoor leisure, enjoying what nature offers us and being respectful with the environment.

Ecological agriculture, production for sustenance and structures such as ecovillages are based on the seed granted by this movement. In short, it is about being at peace with nature, producing what is consumed, without too ostentatious aspirations that harm the planet in its realization.

Resume

These are some of the most striking lifestyles from a practical and philosophical point of view, but there are many more. You must bear in mind that we are facing a social construct and, therefore, there will be as many styles as there are people on Earth.

Anyway, surely you have seen yourself identified in one of these lines or in a combination of them. Beliefs make us as individuals, since they define our way of acting and relating to the environment. And you, what lifestyle do you lead?