Variability in Value of Health in Social Fields: Challenges and Incentives for Self-Care Practices

Abstract

Strong motivation to selfcare is assumed by design of contemporary healthcare policy. However, both western and Russian studies show motivational deficit and inattention to prevention care among population. Actual paper examines the problem of motivation as a relational choice. Opposing to the view on motivation as a part of individual will, we consider motivation as a choice between competing requirements to selfcare among multiple social fields. We collected 27 in-depth interviews with Russians from large cities and analyzed them in abductive logic. In the analysis we focused on health practices performed in the fields of family and career. The results demonstrate that individuals succeed in selfcare when the care of health appears essential for execution of important social roles.

Keywords

• agency
• bourdieu
• valuation studies
• healthcare policies
• life satisfaction