On Becoming an “Exercise addict”: Analyzing Exercise Addiction Processes Through the Sociology of Dispositional and Contextual Plurality

While exercise addiction is not officially recognized as a mental health classification in psychiatric nosography, this behavioral addiction has been increasingly studied and debated in scientific literature since the late 1970s. In an effort to deepen sociological understandings of this phenomenon, the present paper aims to expand the scientific discussion beyond normative and pathologizing debates by focusing on the personal trajectories of 17 self-designated “exercise addicts”. Data were collected using a mobile interviewing method, an immersive and participative mode of inquiry recognized for its ability to capture various intimate dimensions of lived experience. Strauss’ concept of “trajectory” was utilized to examine the temporal structure of the process which progressively led participants to experience and recognize themselves as “exercise addicts”. This approach was complemented by Lahire’s sociology of dispositions to describe the types of sport socialization experienced by participants and the contexts which enabled the expression of these socially forged dispositions. Analysis led to the identification of four distinct trajectories that outline the temporal structure of the social process involved in becoming an “exercise addict”. These inductively constructed trajectories are described in relation to three main variables: 1) the primary socialization relative to sport behavior and ranging from low to strong; 2) the nature of secondary sport socialization (the influence of current social networks and 3) the temporal pattern involved in “exercise addicts’” trajectories (continuous, progressive, or non-linear). Two elements are centralized in the discussion. First, the over-representation of self-identified “exercise addicts” associated with a privileged socio-economic class and second, the potential “protective” role of belonging to a community of practice of other “intense” exercisers.