Michael Mutz

• Dr.
• Professor at Justus Liebig University Giessen

Previous sociological research on sport in prisons has primarily focused on the male prison population. Against this background, this article deals with sport in women's prisons and analyzes qualitative studies published in English and German since the turn of the millennium in the form of a systematic review. The focus is on how incarcerated women...

Introduction Dropout, a premature end of a sporting career, is considered a major problem for the elite sports system. This paper examines factors that contribute to elite athletes’ considerations regarding dropout. Drawing on key theorizing from the sociology of work and organizations, we conceptualize dropout as the result of a reflexive process...

The role of power performance in elite athletes has been enriched by identifying associations between specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and power performance. To deepen our understanding of this association, the objective of this study was to explore the relationship between the genotype and the phenotype in elite athletes. A total of...

Elite athletes are high-performance outliers within their specific sports. Even though science seeks to understand the nature of expertise and elite performance, much knowledge remains compartmentalized within subdisciplines. Despite this multidimensionality being acknowledged, an interdisciplinary approach to understanding elite athletes is still...

This paper explores the relationship between society-related fears and personal mental health. Respondents of an online survey representing the German population (18 + years) answered how much they are worried about eight societal developments (armed conflicts, social inequality, rise of right-wing extremism, crime and terror, immigration, climate...

Drawing on theories from the sociology of work and organizations, such as Leiter and Maslach's concept of burnout and Siegrist's model of effort–reward imbalance, this paper argues that burnout symptoms in elite sport are related to a mismatch of investment and gratification. Building on data from a sample of German elite athletes ( N = 312), findi...

The German Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents 2022 provides a summary and a comprehensive evaluation of physical activity levels and correlated indicators using the Active Healthy Kids Canada grading framework. The 2022 German Report Card, established by the Active Healthy Kids Germany (AHK Germany) expert panel, describe...

Previous research indicates general health benefits of sport for imprisoned individuals. Nevertheless, the role of time spent in sporting activities during imprisonment and the type of sports setting (informal vs. organized) remain unclear. The study uses a quantitative, cross-sectional design. It is based on survey data (N = 568) from the Hessian...

Organized sports programmes offer manifold opportunities for learning and personal development. Prisoners in organized sports programmes could profit from these educational opportunities, which could eventually support their process of reintegration into society. However, research on the educational experiences of imprisoned individuals during orga...

Professional athletes increasingly use their popularity to speak out about political topics off and on the field. However, only few studies explore how audiences react to political speech in elite sports. Existing research has tended to focus on very few high-profile cases, usually in the United States, such as Colin Kaepernick's anthem protest. Go...

Athletes have again started to take a visible stance on various political and social issues, which has stirred fierce controversies. Existing research has a strong US bias, and, to extend the range of research, we conducted a German survey on the perceived legitimacy of athletes’ political activism. The evidence suggests that the US debate cannot s...

Background: Previous studies about health in prisons conclude that incarceration has detrimental consequences for physical and mental health. It is associated with weight gain, decreased fitness, increased cardiovascular risks, and increased risks for mental illnesses, like depression and anxiety. This article examines the relationships between sp...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to an increase of digitally supported home-based sport and exercise activities. This paper asks how these digital sport and exercise (DSE) offers are experienced by consumers and compares the experiential value of DSE activities with similar on-site, offline sport and exercise (OSE) activitie...

Prior studies emphasise that prisons are violent places and strong social hierarchies exist between inmates. Against the background that a large number of inmates engage in strength training, this paper explores the significance of self-organised weight training and muscle building by reconstructing the meanings and relevance of these activities pa...

This research note reports social capital trends in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is based on a comparison of survey data from 2017/18 and 2020/21, i.e., trends reported here inform about changes of social capital levels during the “second lockdown” of the pandemic, when containment policies were in effect throughout the country. Finding...

It is widely assumed that LGBT+ people may feel insecure and unwelcome in sports settings, which are often characterized by a binary gender order and a culture of heteronormativity. Previous research also suggests that LGBT+ individuals experience homophobia in the context of sport. Despite these findings, reliable quantitative data on the sports p...

This research note reports social capital trends in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is based on a comparison of survey data from 2017/18 and 2020/21, i.e., trends reported here inform about changes of social capital levels during the “second lockdown” of the pandemic, when containment policies were in effect throughout the country. Finding...

Previous research has shown that consuming media broadcasts of national athletes participating in international sporting competitions can inspire national pride and heighten identification with the nation. Extending these accounts, this paper asks whether major sporting events can also shape meanings attached to the nation; specifically how strongl...

Measures to slow down the spread of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 have had an impact on the daily life and physical activity (PA) of many people. Nevertheless, in Germany, mitigation policies and incidence values vary widely across the federal states (Länder). Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate regional differences in PA during the coro...

Background Latest studies indicated that the general mental health level is low during the pandemic. Probably, this deterioration of the mental health situation is partly due to declines in physical activity. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in and the association between affective wellbeing and levels of different domains of ph...

Many working parents experienced a double burden of fulltime employment and increased childcare obligations during the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. This paper explores how this twofold burden affected leisure time sports and exercise (LTSE). Following a gender inequality perspective, it is assumed that the level of LTSE of working...

Guided by a social inequality perspective that combines Bourdieu’s conception of socially shaped tastes and lifestyles with Peterson’s notion of omnivorous consumption, this paper addresses the link between social inequality and participation in specific subfields of sport. Ten popular sports and adjacent activity subfields are analysed and compare...

In wissenschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Debatten wird oft argumentiert, dass Sport Fairnessnormen vermittle und prosoziales Verhalten fördere. Dem steht die Beobachtung gegenüber, dass Fairness zumindest im professionellen Leistungssport nicht die primäre Handlungsorientierung zu sein scheint. Vor diesem Hintergrund beschreibt der Beitrag gest...

Health authorities recommend digital tools for home-based sport and exercise routines to stay active and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study investigates the prevalence, duration, most popular activities, and social selectivity of home-based digital sport and its contribution to overall levels of sporting activity during the pandemic. I...

This study uses experimental methods to assess the causal effect of media presentations on viewer’s emotions, national identification, and nation-related values. In three experiments covering marginal sports disciplines, viewers watched broadcasts of compatriots winning an Olympic gold medal, either featuring emotional and partisan reporting styles...

It is widely believed that civic associations are capable to produce social capital, here understood as an individual asset resulting from relations of mutual support and assistance. Although hardly anybody denies that socializing is widespread in many civic associations, it still remains to be shown that this socializing provides a genuine commitm...

Few studies have shown that exercise withdrawal and forced inactivity lead to negative mood states and increased symptoms of depression. Involuntary inactivity has become reality for millions during the Covid-19 pandemic, as mitigation and containment policies included the closings of sports facilities and leisure infrastructures. Based on represen...

Observational and experimental studies show that leisure time sporting activity (LTSA) is associated with higher well-being. However, scholars often seem to assume that 1) LTSA fosters "general" life satisfaction, thereby ignoring effects on domain satisfaction; 2) the effect of LTSA on well-being is linear and independent of a person's general act...

Zusammenfassung Die Forschung über abenteuer- und erlebnispädagogische Programme hat vielfach auf positive Effekte z. B. für Selbstwirksamkeit, Kompetenzerwerb oder psychosoziale Gesundheit hingewiesen. Weniger gut erforscht ist hingegen die Frage, unter welchen Bedingungen diese Effekte zu Stande kommen bzw. welche Erfahrungen mit welchen Veränder...

Based on a theoretical framework informed by Self-Determination Theory, this paper argues that sports activities’ impact on subjective well-being is moderated by the goals and motivations associated with the sport. Precisely, we hypothesize that intrinsic sport motivations like enjoyment, sociality, and relaxation, may enhance subjective well-being...

Due to the massive spread of a new Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), many European governments enacted rules and legislations in order to reduce social interactions and contain the spread of the virus. German authorities put in force a lockdown of all non-essential infrastructure, starting on 22 March 2020. These policies included the closing of sports clu...

This study examines the relationships between different job stressors and sports participation. Based on a large-scale representative sample (N = 1935), the paper tested if the number of different job stressors encountered in a job is related to sports participation. Moreover, we examined the relative impact of different stressors on sport particip...

Vor dem Hintergrund eines vielfach konstatierten zunehmenden Bewegungsmangels und längerer Sitzzeiten bei Kindern befasst sich der Beitrag mit der Spielplatznutzung und der damit verbundenen Bewegungsaktivität. Auf Basis einer regionalen Stichprobe von Kindern im Grundschulalter (N=150, 6-11 Jahre) und gestützt auf kombinierte Daten aus Aktivitätst...

Background: European Union member countries agreed on 23 health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) policy measures in 2013; however, the implementation of these measures varies considerably between countries. Hitherto, no evaluations have yet addressed the efficacy of these policies. Methods: Using a quantitative cross-country comparative approa...

TV-Übertragungen der Spiele der deutschen Fußballnationalmannschaft besitzen einen starken emotionalen Erlebniswert für das Publikum. Gerade bei WM- und EM-Turnieren scheinen sich starke Emotionen intensiv und kollektiv aufseiten der TV-Zuschauer_innen Bahn zu brechen. Auf Basis eines repräsentativen Surveys während der Fußball-EM 2016 fragt dieser...

Prior research has provided evidence that attractiveness is associated with work-related advantages. It is less clear, however, whether attractiveness is an antecedent or a consequence of professional success. To answer this question, associational football in Germany is used as an exemplifying case. Portrait pictures of German football players wer...

Wettbewerb und Konkurrenz markieren zentrale Sinndimensionen des professionell betriebenen Leistungssports und sind bestimmend für die Handlungsrationalität der dort handelnden Personen. In Teamsportarten ist der kollektive Erfolg einer Mannschaft aber auch vom effektiven Zusammenspiel einzelner Spieler abhängig, also von ihrer Fähigkeit zur Kooper...

Previous research has shown that governments have often used mega sport events to convey a positive image of their nation to a global audience, whereas Western-based non-governmental organizations use these events to criticize social ills in the host countries. Research presented here asks to what extent attempts at politicization have prevailed wi...

Vor dem Hintergrund eines vielfach konstatierten zunehmenden Bewegungsmangels und längerer Sitzzeiten bei Kindern befasst sich der Beitrag mit der Spielplatznutzung und der damit verbundenen Bewegungsaktivität. Auf Basis einer regionalen Stichprobe von Kindern im Grundschulalter (N=150, 6-11 Jahre) und gestützt auf kombinierte Daten aus Aktivitätst...

Zusammenfassung Basierend auf einer systematischen Literaturrecherche über den Sport im Strafvollzug geht das Review der Frage nach, wie die Inhaftierten den Gefängnissport erfahren und reflektieren. Gestützt auf zehn qualitative Studien werden die zentralen Bedeutungsfacetten des Sports in der Haft herausgearbeitet. Grundsätzlich wird darauf verwi...

The paper focuses on social capital-related attitudes of members of local civic organisations, particularly of sports club members. In line with Robert Putnam’s social capital argument, three questions are addressed: (1) Do social capital-related attitudes differ between sports club members and those among the German population who do not belong to...

The German Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth 2018 provides a summary and a comprehensive evaluation of physical activity levels and correlated indicators using the Active Healthy Kids Canada grading framework. The Report Card aims to benchmark the national actions promoting physical activity in children and youth in Germany wi...

Im Mittelpunkt der empirischen Untersuchung steht ein repräsentativer Bevölkerungssurvey, der in Kooperation mit Infratest dimap, einem der führenden Meinungsforschungsinstitute in Deutschland realisiert wurde. Der Survey wurde als CAWI-Befragung (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing) im Rahmen eines existierenden Online-Panels durchgeführt. Dies war...

Die Ergebnisse unserer Studie bestätigen zunächst, dass internationale Fußballgroßereignisse mit Beteiligung der deutschen Nationalmannschaft weit in die Gesellschaft hineinwirken: Dies spiegelt sich in der hohen medialen Reichweite als auch der Beteiligung der Menschen an „fußballpatriotischen“ Handlungen wider. Die Europameisterschaft und ihre me...

Basierend auf einer repräsentativen Längsschnittstudie rund um die Fußballeuropameisterschaft 2016 geht das Buch dem Zusammenhang zwischen Fußball und Nationalstolz nach. Es wird gezeigt, wie die Identifikation mit der Fußballnationalmannschaft mit einer Verbundenheit zum Nationalstaat und mit expressiven patriotischen Verhaltensweisen einhergeht....

Die späteren Analysen, die auf bestimmte Wirkungen der UEFA EURO in die Gesellschaft hinein abheben, setzen voraus, dass sich die Menschen für die Europameisterschaft auch interessieren und die Spiele – zumindest die der deutschen Auswahlmannschaft – im Fernsehen mitverfolgen. Auch wenn es im Grunde offensichtlich ist, dass in Deutschland die Fußba...

Das Teilkapitel nimmt im Wesentlichen Bezug auf das Konzept des „banalen Nationalismus“ (Billig, 1995) und begründet, weshalb internationale Sportereignisse Paradebeispiele für diese Form des hintergründigen, alltäglichen Nationalismus darstellen. Dies ist u. a. deshalb plausibel, weil Sportereignisse der Logik des „Nationensports“ (Reicher, 2013)...

Nationen sind zentraler Bezugspunkt für soziale Identität in modernen Gesellschaften. Im Alltag erscheinen sie quasi natürlich und geschichtslos; die Nation als Phänomen und als Referenzpunkt scheint für die Individuen bereits immer dagewesen zu sein und ihre Existenz wird in der Regel nicht hinterfragt. Diesem Alltagsverständnis steht die sozial-...

Sportliche Mega-Events wie Olympische Spiele oder Fußballweltmeisterschaften erreichen in Deutschland ein Millionenpublikum. Vor allem der Fußball ist unangefochten die Sportart Nummer Eins, lockt Kinder in Sportvereine und fasziniert Millionen als Zuschauer und Fans. Während im Bundesliga-Alltag die Identifikation auf Vereine projiziert wird, ist...

Die deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft ist ohne Zweifel ein für viele Menschen sehr relevantes Identifikationsobjekt. Die Nationalspieler sind Medienstars, Sammelalben der DFB-Kicker liegen in fast jedem Kinderzimmer, die Bekanntheitswerte der Spieler sind enorm. In einer 2016 durchgeführten Umfrage kannten ca. 90 % der Deutschen Bastian Schweinste...

Following Honneth’s theorizing on social esteem and based on ethnographic accounts, this study argues that sporting practices are of crucial importance for marginalized young men’s social and self-esteem. The material presented shows the following: (a) these youths suffer from spoiled identities and negative self-images due to educational failure a...

This paper refers to the widespread notion that voluntary (sport) organizations produce social capital, popularized through the works of Robert D. Putnam, and compares social trust levels of sport club members with members in other voluntary associations and non-members. We differentiate between in-group trust and out-group trust, highlighting that...

Even though positive health effects of regular physical activity (PA) are well known,1,2 national and international surveillance data show that PA is the “pill not taken”. This leads to widespread negative health and economic consequences. The 2018 German Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth provides a comprehensive evaluation of...

Research provided ample evidence that excessive screen time (ST) in adolescence has detrimental effects on psychosocial health. This paper argues that structured outdoor programs can serve as an antidote to negative health impacts of exaggerated ST. For youth with a high level of regular ST, outdoor adventures imply a break with their ‘normal’ (med...

Previous research has supported the idea that achievements in international sports might contribute to national pride. However, the potential role of political regimes has been widely neglected. The account presented here argues that less democratic regimes depend strongly on output legitimacy and therefore are more likely to employ sport-centred i...

Research on sport events and well-being yield inconclusive results with some studies suggesting that well-being is increasing during major sport events while other studies fail to establish such a relationship. The present study aims at investigating the relationship between sport events and life satisfaction more closely, while at the same time av...

This paper coins the term ‘football patriotism’ to describe the open, expressive handling of national symbols (e. g. flags, anthems, national colors) in the context of international football events. Based on a representative online survey of the adult German population (N = 1092), which was carried out in the course of the 2016 UEFA EURO, this pape...

Physical activity is a health relevant factor, particularly in affluent societies where overweight and obesity are increasingly prevalent, even among children. Understanding the development of physical activity patterns in childhood is thus an important issue for health promotion. Following socialization theory, this study describes and explains di...

Research suggests that major sporting events can affect identification with the nation-state. Complementing previous research, it is argued in this article that identification with the national in-group should be enhanced especially among emotionally involved spectators. Emotional involvement, however, can be induced by the sport itself but also by...

Following Catherine Hakim’s notion of the increasing significance of ‘erotic capital’ in contemporary society, this paper addresses the effects of erotic capital in the realm of professional sports. Erotic capital may be closely related to popularity and thus represents a key marketing asset, in particular for female athletes facing a predominantly...

Germany is becoming a multicultural society with a growing migrant population. Issues of social integration and societal cohesion are ongoing themes in public debates. In this regard, sport is often considered as a tool for fostering integration and a sense of belonging among migrants. This paper uses a qualitative methodology to explore the comple...

Processes of commercialisation and globalisation have changed professional football and the composition of football teams fundamentally. Against the background of these shifting conditions we investigate to what extent the success of football teams in their national leagues is determined by: (a) the monetary value of the team expressed in its marke...

According to Elias and Dunning’s theory of the civilizing process, modern society can be characterized by a lack of excitement. Spare time activities may serve a compensatory function for this perceived monotony of modern life. During leisure, the modern individual searches for excitement from mimetic activities. Consumption of sports broadcasts ma...

It is commonly assumed that international sport reinforces feelings of national pride and national identity. Using large-scale survey data from Germany, covering the period between 1992 and 2008, some unresolved key questions surrounding sportive nationalism are addressed. We examine the relative importance of sport as a source of national pride, a...

This paper investigates potential mental health benefits of outdoor and adventure education programs. It is argued that experiences made in successful programs can increase self-efficacy, mindfulness and subjective well-being. Furthermore, programs may reduce feelings of time pressure and mental stress amongst participants. Evidence comes from two...

Professional football is a highly globalized area. The paper analyses the impact of globalization on football audiences in European countries. It is argued that in the course of globalization, people are not only thrown into a transnational lifestyle, but may also develop a growing interest in what is going on outside their domestic territory. With...

According to Holmes and Rahe, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11(2), 213–218, (1967), Christmas is a critical life event that may cause feelings of stress that, in turn, can lead to reduced subjective well-being (SWB) and health problems. This study uses a quantitative approach and large-scale survey data to assess whether or not respondents in...

Im dritten Kapitel „Zur Beteiligung junger Migrantinnen und Migranten am Vereinssport“ wird der bisherige empirische Forschungsstand zur Partizipation von Jugendlichen mit Migrationshintergrund am Sport resümiert, wobei u. a. auf die Ergebnisse repräsentativer Datensätze (z. B. Shell-Jugendstudie 2000, die Nationale Ergänzungsstudie zu PISA 2000 od...

Wenn es darum geht, bestimmte Unterschiede zwischen einheimischer und zugewanderter Bevölkerung oder auch zwischen verschiedenen Zuwanderergruppen zu erklären, z. B. im Hinblick auf Lebensstile, Familienformen, Ernährung und Gesundheit, aber auch im Zusammenhang mit Bildungserfolgen oder Gewaltkriminalität, wird häufig auf kulturelle Eigenarten und...

Geht es darum zu erklären, weshalb sich der Wunsch insbesondere vieler Migrantinnen, Sport zu treiben, nicht in aktives Sporttreiben niederschlägt, wird in öffentlichen und wissenschaftlichen Debatten zumindest bei den Migrantinnen aus der Türkei auf einen wesentlichen Hinderungsgrund verwiesen: auf die islamische Religion und die vergleichsweise h...

Aus dem Projekt haben sich wichtige Erkenntnisse über die sportvereinsbezogene Sozialisation von zugewanderten Mädchen und Jungen ergeben, insbesondere über den Einfluss kultureller Unterschiede auf die organisierte Sportbeteiligung und über die Mechanismen der inter- und intragenerationalen Weitergabe sportbezogener Einstellungen. Diese werden im...

Sportvereine sind immer auch Orte für Geselligkeit und Vergemeinschaftung. Wer im Sportverein voll integriert sein will, muss – so die Annahme – mit den Mittrainierenden und anderen Vereinsmitgliedern kommunizieren können und sich in das Vereinsgeschehen involvieren lassen. Damit werden aber Kommunikationsfähigkeiten vorausgesetzt. Beherrschen Zuwa...

Voluntary work is regarded as a learning environment which facilitates character development and skills acquisition in adolescents. Based on a sample of young adults who completed a year of voluntary work in the social sector, this study investigates whether a volunteer service is accompanied by personality development, networking opportunities as...

Der Beitrag präsentiert repräsentative Befunde zur Beteiligung von Migrantinnen und Migranten im Kindes- und Jugendalter am Sportverein. Dabei steht die sogenannte dritte Einwanderergeneration im Fokus, also die Enkel der einstigen Einwanderer. Es kann gezeigt werden, dass sich die dritte Generation hinsichtlich ihres Organisationsgrades im Sportve...

Sport wird oft als klassische ‚Männersache‘ beschrieben. Obwohl sich traditionelle Vorstellungen in den letzten Jahren stark verändert haben, sind entsprechende Annahmen über typisch ‚weiblichen‘ und ‚männlichen‘ Sport bei Jugendlichen auch heute noch verbreitet. Dies dürfte v. a. für Migrantinnen gelten, die noch eher in sozialen Milieus aufwachse...

Migrantinnen und Migranten sind im organisierten Sport in Deutschland unterrepräsentiert. Welche Faktoren definieren den Zugang zum Sport im Allgemeinen und zum Sportverein im Besonderen mit: Werte, Sprache, Religion, Herkunftsfamilie? Welche Rolle spielen dabei die Sportvereine? Wie lassen sich die erheblichen Geschlechterunterschiede in den Sport...

This study examined the effects of weather on personality self-ratings. Single-assessment data were derived from the German General Social Survey conducted in 2008. For a subset of the participants (N = 478), official weather station data for the day a personality inventory was completed could be determined. Among these respondents, 140 (29%) compl...

Against the background of the long-debated, controversial issue of mixed-sex vs. single-sex education, this paper empirically analyses whether or not female students are put at a disadvantage by coeducational physical education (P.E.) classes. Drawn on the existing literature on school sport, it is assumed that coeducational P.E. classes, at least...

This study examines to what extent the public attention directed at individual male and female players of various national soccer teams is influenced by (a) their athletic performance and (b) their physical attractiveness. The results prove that public interest in athletes depends significantly on performance and attractiveness. However, those athl...

Processes of globalisation have changed the nature of professional football in two different ways. Firstly, football clubs revenues’ from different sources have multiplied over the past decades. Today’s football clubs need to be regarded as commercialized globally operating companies. Secondly, football clubs have been attracting foreign players to...

Zusammenfassung Vermarktlichung und Globalisierung haben den Profifußball und die Zusammensetzung von Mannschaften fundamental verändert. Vor dem Hintergrund der veränderten Rahmenbedingungen untersucht der Beitrag, in welchem Maße (a) der Marktwert einer Mannschaft, (b) ihre interne Ungleichheit, (c) die kulturelle Diversität eines Teams sowie (d)...

Empirical research in social and political science is fundamentally based on survey data. In these surveys respondents are usually asked for judgments and opinions about political issues, e. g. their satisfaction with the government or the evaluation of the state of the economy. This paper argues that these judgments do not solely rely on rational...

Bei Welt- und Europameisterschaften im Fußball sympathisieren die Zuschauer in der Regel mit dem Nationalteam ihres Landes. Die Nationalmannschaft wird zum Ankerpunkt für nationale Identifikation und – bei sportlichem Erfolg – zur Quelle von Nationalstolz. Nationale Identifikation kann sich als patriotische Verbundenheit ausdrücken, aber auch in ei...

Soziologischen Zeitdiagnosen zufolge hat sich in vielen westlichen Ländern eine stark ausgeprägte postmoderne Konsum-, Unterhaltungs- und Erlebniskultur entwickelt. Der Beitrag knüpft insbesondere an die „Erlebnisgesellschaft“ von Schulze (1992) an. Theoretisch wird argumentiert, dass Menschen in einer Konsum- und Erlebnisgesellschaft verstärkt inn...

Abstract Pierre Bourdieu’s work has argued that there is a homology of social classes on the one hand and cultural consumption on the other. In contrast, theories of individualisation posit that social class plays only a minor role in shaping lifestyle in contemporary societies. In this paper we examine a) how much contemporary highbrow lifestyles...

Von der frühen Kindheit an werden einige Kinder von ihren Eltern zu einem sportlich-aktiven Lebensstil angeregt, andere hingegen nicht. Diese Unterschiede ergeben sich nicht zufällig, sondern folgen einem sozialstrukturellen Muster: Kinder aus sozial privilegierten Elternhäusern erhalten sportbezogene Anregungen und Unterstützung mit größerer Wahrs...

Above all, Pierre Bourdieu’s work has argued that there is a homology of social classes on the one hand and cultural consumption on the other. In contrast, theories of individualization posit that social class plays only a minor role in shaping lifestyle in contemporary societies. In this paper, using extensive survey data, we examine how much cont...