Exploring the Health Behaviors of Alpha Sole Breadwinners in Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

“Health is wealth” literally, the saying has a great significance in the current era of post-modernism and post-pandemic. The paper aims to explore the health behaviors of sole breadwinners and alpha males in Lahore, Pakistan. In family matters males are the most prominent in decision making whether it is a financial decision or related to any family member. The traditional social construction in the modern era often leads alpha males to poor health due to the burden of responsibilities. This research mainly focuses on the males who are head of the family and sole breadwinners and indicates their preference between their health and family responsibilities. A qualitative study was conducted on males from different areas of Lahore including salesmen, businessmen and automobile mechanics who were the sole breadwinners and alphas in their families.  8 in-depth interviews were conducted after declaring a clear criterion for respondents. Respondents were those who were alpha males of families or sole breadwinners as well as having the responsibilities as head of the family. The data were collected via Purposive Sampling Technique. Initially asking the questions to ensure the proposed criterion of respondents. Those who were not on the criterion were excluded after initial questions. The researchers used a semi-structured interview guide with probing questions to reach out the saturation point until the repeated patterns emerged. Thematic analysis was used to conclude. Results indicate that the behavior of alpha males related to health is detective and they have been suffering from a lot of health problems without being attended to by any medical professional, most of the males prefer their families and children's health over their own.