The Intergenerational Reproduction of Cultural Capital: A Threefold Perspective

Abstract

Empirical studies on cultural capital have never fully operationalized the concept using indicators of all three states distinguished by Bourdieu, i.e., institutionalized, embodied and objectified cultural capital. We provide such a threefold measurement for both respondents and their parents in our analysis of the intergenerational transmission of cultural capital. Respondents' schooling levels (institutionalized state) are affected by parental education and, to a lesser extent, parental cultural behavior, but both effects are smaller among younger generations. Cultural participation (embodied state) is consistently affected by all three manifestations of parental cultural capital. Possessing cultural goods (objectified state) is mostly affected by parents' cultural possessions. Our results reveal that the three states of cultural capital differ in the constellation of their causes and consequences, plus the changes therein.