The accumulation of capital as motivation for gym-work among fitness enthusiasts in Singapore

• Main Author: Khoo, Vivienne Hui Yee
• Other Authors: Tan Joo Ean
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/55842
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Situating this research in contemporary Singapore society where gym centers are proliferating, the primary goal of this paper is to understand what motivates fitness enthusiasts to engage in gym-work. Pierre Bourdieu’s (1986) thesis on capital is used as framework to theme the results of benefits gained from involvement in gym fitness. Fieldwork was conducted at one gym in Eastern Singapore along with in-depth interviews with fourteen purposefully chosen gym attendees, who were divided into two groups based on their primary reason (i.e. work or leisure) for engaging in fitness. Findings reveal that while there are overlaps in the capital acquired by both groups, there were also some significant differences. The study accounts for this disparity by postulating a new capital, known as cognitive-affective capital and argues for a move away from Bourdieu’s determinist notion of habitus that underlies capital, proposing instead, a pragmatist conception of situated action.