Journal of Lifestyle

Journal of Lifestyle

A Sociological Explanation of the Social Determinants of Health Literacy: A Case Study of Citizens Over 18 Years of Age in Bushehr

Document Type : Scientific research

Authors
hasan seadatpour 1
alirreza jafarniya 2
sepideh hazrati 3
1 Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Sociology, Bushehr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bushehr, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Bushehr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bushehr, Iran.Corresponding Author.
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Zahedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zahedan, Iran.
10.22034/jl.2026.573597.1802
Abstract
This study was conducted to provide a sociological explanation of the social determinants of health literacy among citizens over 18 years of age in Bushehr. An exploratory sequential mixed-methods design was employed. In the qualitative phase, data were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed using the classical grounded theory approach. In the quantitative phase, the qualitative findings were tested through a cross-sectional survey conducted on a sample of 384 participants. The qualitative findings led to the identification of 24 concepts and eight major categories, with tolerance of waiting emerging as the core category and the central social process. This process developed within a context characterized by informational disorder, polyvocality in the health field, a crisis of credibility assessment, the family's symbolic capital, and the trust–power exchange, explaining waiting as an active strategy for managing uncertainty. The quantitative findings indicated that a polyvocal health field, the strategy of suspended judgment, the body as a field of experimentation, and the trust–power exchange exerted direct and positive effects on tolerance of waiting, whereas the family's symbolic capital exerted a strong negative effect. Tolerance of waiting also emerged as the strongest negative predictor of health literacy and served as a full mediator in the model. The family's symbolic capital likewise demonstrated the greatest overall positive effect on health literacy. Based on these findings, health literacy in Bushehr is a social and context-dependent phenomenon that, under conditions of informational instability and a crisis of trust, gives rise to the strategy of tolerance of waiting, rendering a reactive pattern dominant over preventive action.
Keywords
health literacy
social determinants
tolerance of waiting
family's symbolic capital
trust
health field
Subjects
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  • Receive Date 26 December 2025
  • Revise Date 07 February 2026
  • Accept Date 09 February 2026