Embodying health behaviours in everyday life

The social and gendered practices of female senior managers

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21579679
AutoresMaría Del Río Carral (0000-0002-1676-3964, University of Lausanne, autor de correspondencia), Antonia Lyons (0000-0003-4254-3268, Victoria University of Wellington)
Año2020
Volumen35
Número10
Páginas1249-1267
Fecha de publicación2020-10-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPsychology & Health (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0887-0446 • E-ISSN: 1476-8321
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/08870446.2020.1743292
PMID32238068
OpenAlexW3015075091
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas13
Referencias citadas68

Objective: This article extends current theorising around health behaviours using insights from a study with women working in senior management positions in Switzerland. The study aimed to explore the meanings they attached to their everyday activities and examine implications for health and wellbeing by drawing on 1) social practices theory, 2) a socio-constructionist approach to gender, and 3) conceptualisations of embodiment.Design: Twenty female senior managers were interviewed at two time points six months apart: the first interview elicited highly-detailed, descriptive accounts of activities during the previous day, while in the second interview participants reflected on their previous accounts and discussed the meanings they ascribed to their activities. A thematic and narrative analysis of both sets of transcripts was conducted.Results: Three main themes captured the ways female senior managers talked about their everyday behaviours, all focused around their bodies: ‘Functional bodies: Being on-the-go and meeting responsibilities’; ‘Limiting bodies: Threats to everyday activities’; and ‘Intentional bodies: Activities for wellbeing’.Conclusions: Results are considered in terms of contemporary postfeminist/neoliberal discourses in Western societies, how these are shaping and affecting everyday practices and subjectivities, and their consequences for women’s health and wellbeing at work

Epistemology · Everyday life · Narrative · Qualitative research · Social constructionism · Social science · Sociology · Strict constructionism · Thematic analysis · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges