From Metallica to Mozart: Mapping the Cultural Hierarchy of Lifestyle Activities
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From Metallica to Mozart : Mapping the Cultural Hierarchy of Lifestyle Activities. / Jæger, Mads Meier; Larsen, Mikkel Haderup.
In: Sociological Science, Vol. 11, 2024, p. 413-438.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - From Metallica to Mozart
T2 - Mapping the Cultural Hierarchy of Lifestyle Activities
AU - Jæger, Mads Meier
AU - Larsen, Mikkel Haderup
N1 - Funding Information: We have presented earlier versions of this article at the 2023 ECSR conference in Prague, the RC28 Spring Meeting in Paris, the 2023 CEPDISC Conference in Aarhus, and at seminars at the University of Utrecht, University of Copenhagen, the Danish National Centre for Social Research, the Rockwool Foundation, and the European Commission. We thank participants at these events for constructive comments. The research presented in this article was funded by the Carlsberg Foundation (grant number CF21-325) and the Rockwool Foundation (grant number 934121, \u201CLifestyle Discrimination and Inequality\u201D) Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). This open-access article has been published under a Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction, in any form, as long as the original author and source have been credited. c b
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Theories of cultural stratification argue that a widely shared cultural hierarchy legitimizes status differences and inequality. Yet, we know little about this hierarchy empirically. To address this limitation, we collected survey data in Denmark and asked respondents to rate the implied social rank of 60 activities, genres, and objects belonging to six lifestyle domains (music, food, performing arts, leisure, sport, and literature). We use ratings of social rank to infer about the cultural hierarchy, arguing that higher ratings imply higher perceived status. First, respondents link activities often considered highbrow (e.g., opera, caviar, and golf) with higher social rank than activities often considered lowbrow (e.g., heavy metal, nuggets, and boxing), suggesting that a cultural hierarchy exists. Second, ratings of implied social rank differ little by respondents’ objective and subjective socioeconomic position, suggesting that the cultural hierarchy is widely shared. Third, respondents bundle the 60 activities in a perceived highbrow, middlebrow, and lowbrow lifestyle, suggesting that “brows” are salient in distinguishing lifestyles. Overall, our results support the idea that a cultural hierarchy exists.
AB - Theories of cultural stratification argue that a widely shared cultural hierarchy legitimizes status differences and inequality. Yet, we know little about this hierarchy empirically. To address this limitation, we collected survey data in Denmark and asked respondents to rate the implied social rank of 60 activities, genres, and objects belonging to six lifestyle domains (music, food, performing arts, leisure, sport, and literature). We use ratings of social rank to infer about the cultural hierarchy, arguing that higher ratings imply higher perceived status. First, respondents link activities often considered highbrow (e.g., opera, caviar, and golf) with higher social rank than activities often considered lowbrow (e.g., heavy metal, nuggets, and boxing), suggesting that a cultural hierarchy exists. Second, ratings of implied social rank differ little by respondents’ objective and subjective socioeconomic position, suggesting that the cultural hierarchy is widely shared. Third, respondents bundle the 60 activities in a perceived highbrow, middlebrow, and lowbrow lifestyle, suggesting that “brows” are salient in distinguishing lifestyles. Overall, our results support the idea that a cultural hierarchy exists.
KW - cultural taste
KW - distinction
KW - hierarchy
KW - inequality
KW - status
U2 - 10.15195/V11.A15
DO - 10.15195/V11.A15
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85191158171
VL - 11
SP - 413
EP - 438
JO - Sociological Science
JF - Sociological Science
SN - 2330-6696
ER -
ID: 393148522