Cultural Consumption and Social Stratification: Leisure Activities, Musical Tastes, and Social Location

TLDR

The study examines how cultural preferences relate to occupational class and other stratifying dimensions, and discusses how the identified culture types associate with stratification. The author constructs combined cultural profiles of leisure activity participation and music tastes, moving beyond the highbrow/lowbrow distinction. Analysis of 1993 GSS data identified four cultural types and showed that race, gender, education, and age are the main determinants of cultural preferences, with class also playing a role.

Abstract

This article examines the extent to which different cultural preferences are associated with occupational class and other stratifying dimensions in contemporary American society. Building on existing research that tends to analyze leisure activities and cultural tastes separately, I construct cultural profiles that combine participation in leisure activities and tastes in music. Using this method allows me to go beyond the common highbrow/lowbrow distinction. I analyze data from the 1993 culture module of the General Social Survey and find four cultural types: highbrow, popular, outdoor nature, and youth music. I discuss the association of the four culture types with different dimensions of stratification. The findings support the conclusion that, while class indeed matters, the main determinants of cultural preferences are race, gender, education, and age.