Cultural Omnivorousness (Sociology)

Introduction

The term cultural omnivorousness was first introduced to the cultural consumption literature by Richard Peterson, in 1992, to refer to a particular cultural appreciation profile. According to his definition, this profile emerged in the late 20th century, in accordance with macro changes experienced in the socioeconomic and political spheres. Omnivorous consumers have an increased breadth of cultural taste and a willingness to cross established hierarchical cultural genre boundaries. In other words, the concept refers to a taste profile that includes both highbrow and lowbrow genres. Peterson’s initial studies—with Kern and Simkus—used data on tastes in music in the United States. Later, especially after researchers in Europe developed an interest in the term, many other cultural consumption domains were analyzed to see whether highbrow taste profiles tend to become less exclusive. This interest has been so consistent that we now have sufficient empirical and theoretical research to label the discussion a coherent sociological “debate.” The relationship between omnivorous orientation and variables such as education, age, gender, class, ethnicity, and race has been analyzed in many different national contexts and cultural fields. The omnivore thesis is extremely important for contemporary cultural theory because it pushes researchers to scrutinize the current status of the relationship between culture and power. The contributors to this debate have provided competing answers to the following crucial questions: What is the strength and direction of the association between socioeconomic status and cultural taste? Are we witnessing the decomposition of cultural-class boundaries and snobbishness? How far does cultural omnivorousness bring tolerance and cultural inclusion? These questions, asked within the debate, demonstrate the concept’s significance for our understanding of sociocultural change. Many case studies have shown that eclectic repertoires are more likely to be embodied by the educated middle classes. Peterson himself argued that the employment market has begun to seek this kind of wide-range awareness and cultural inclusiveness. It seems that being a true omnivore requires certain skills, investment, and prior cultural knowledge, which can be translated into advantages in other social fields. Moreover, empirical research is now sufficient enough to show that omnivores are selective and they show little tolerance for the genres associated with lower social/cultural status. Therefore, this repertoire may very well be considered a new form of distinction—a strategy the economically and culturally advantaged use to “make” their identity and distinguish themselves from others. The debate has progressed quite successfully. Many different types of omnivorousness have been discovered since the term was first coined; not every eclectic repertoire holder follows the same trajectory of boundary crossing. For instance, some omnivorous consumers cross the highbrow-lowbrow boundary by adding highbrow genres to their profile after having experienced upward mobility, while others include lowbrow genres to their once exclusive highbrow taste repertoires. Different forms of omnivorousness—and their degree of cultural tolerance—allow us to see more clearly the current status of the association between cultural hierarchy and consumption. Although limited in quantity, some important research has been done critically questioning the kind of social structures, institutions, national contexts, and school curricula that enlarge the cultural cultivated fractions’ repertoires. Recent research on contemporary forms of cultural capital and cosmopolitanism also engages closely with the omnivore debate. It is important to note that arguments still remain with regard to methods and analysis; not every contributor agrees on a common definition for measurement—operationalization—of the omnivore profiles. Some researchers take participation, while others take taste or knowledge, as proxies to measure omnivorousness. Some contributors measure only the breadth (the status of the genres preferred) and others measure volume of tastes (the number of preferred genres/activities) without looking at their composition, namely how far people cross boundaries. Other disagreements (methodological and theoretical) with regard to other aspects of the debate have been briefly referred to above. These disagreements not only make the debate more lively and dynamic, but also ensure that interest in the concept does not decrease over time.

Reference Texts

Peterson and Kern 1996 first coined the term in their studies of audience segmentation in the United States (Peterson 1992, Peterson and Kern 1996). These studies stand in close dialogue with discussions in Gans 1975 on mass culture and the relationship between the elite and the masses in the cultural sphere. However, the thesis later received the attention of researchers, in works such as Bennett, et al. 2009; Bennett, et al. 1999; and Lamont and Fournier 1992, who have been highly engaged (critically or noncritically) with Bourdieu’s work and this significantly changed the trajectory of the debate. Bourdieu 1984 uses the terms capital, field, and habitus to show the correspondence between cultural and economic hierarchy. For Bourdieu, taste, or cultural appreciation patterns, which are also the concern of the omnivore thesis, are important avenues to show the reproduction of privilege and the arbitrariness of “high culture” definitions. The omnivore thesis can be considered a critique of Bourdieu’s thesis of cultural hierarchy, since it points to a shift in cultivated fractions’ appreciation from cultural exclusiveness toward tolerance. To place specific case studies on omnivorousness into a larger context, including issues of tolerance, class, distinction, privilege, fields, and capitals, one needs to go back to these theoretical and empirical reference texts.

Bennett, Tony, Michael Emmison, and John Frow. 1999. Accounting for tastes: Australian everyday cultures. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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Explores Australian cultural tastes. Engages with the debates of the time: Bourdieu’s homology, omnivore, etc. Argues that Bourdieu’s account reflects a “modernist” view and cannot account for the 20th century. Puts forward the conceptual tool “regimes of value.” Identifies a difference between knowledge and taste and suggest that omnivorousness should be understood in terms of knowledge.
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Bennett, Tony, Mike Savage, Elizabeth Silva, Alan Warde, Modesto Gayo-Cal, and David Wright, eds. 2009. Culture, class, distinction. New York: Routledge.
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Important for students and researchers since it explores cultural hierarchy and Bourdieu’s key concepts in the United Kingdom by means of a representative database specifically tailored for this purpose. Examines differences from Bourdieu’s Distinction, such as the influence of age, omnivorousness, etc. Discusses how these new trends should inform our understanding of taste, culture, and inequality.
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Bourdieu, Pierre. 1984. Distinction: A social critique of the judgment of taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
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Significant because contributors to the omnivore debate frequently engage with Bourdieu’s homology thesis on taste and class position. In this book, Bourdieu uses various quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the dynamics of French people’s cultural appreciation, and he builds his theory of social distinction by means of this elaborate analysis.
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Chan, Tak Wing, ed. 2010. Social status and cultural consumption. 2010. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511712036Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A very informative and clear collection through which students from all levels can familiarize themselves with the key figures and debate regarding cultural stratification and consumption. It includes thoroughly conducted case studies from Europe and the United States and theoretical discussion regarding the current dynamics of cultural consumption and social status.
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Gans, J. Herbert. 1975. Popular culture and high culture: An analysis and evaluation of taste. New York: Basic Books.
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Essential reading for students of cultural sociology. Many texts in this subfield of sociology, including the one in which the omnivore thesis emerged, reference Gans’s discussion. Gans engages with hotly debated issues such as mass culture thesis, highbrow and popular culture distinction, taste cultures, etc.
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Lamont, Michèle, and Marcel Fournier, eds. 1992. Cultivating difference: Symbolic boundaries and the making of inequality. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
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An important edited resource that includes case studies exploring boundaries drawn by means of cultural resources. All chapters are insightful, but chapter 7 (“How Musical Tastes Mark Occupation Status Groups” [pp. 152–186]), written by Peterson and Simkus, is a must-read because it deals specifically with omnivore repertoires and the occupational groups with which they associate.
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Peterson, Richard A. 1992. Understanding audience segmentation: From elite and mass to omnivore and univore. Poetics 21.4: 243–258.
DOI: 10.1016/0304-422X(92)90008-QSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Challenges the widely accepted cultural classification understanding of the time—elite to mass theory—and coins the term omnivorousness for the first time. Shows that members of the elite have knowledge of a wide range of musical forms and thus do not show the features of stereotypical elite snobs. Peterson discusses various sociocultural conditions that may have helped to promote the emergence of the omnivore and its displacement with the elite.
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Peterson, Richard A., and M. Roger Kern. 1996. Changing highbrow taste: From snob to omnivore. American Sociological Review 61.5: 900–907.
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Uses comparable data collected in 1982 and 1992 in the United States to analyze the shift from “elite to omnivore” thesis. Shows that the highbrows of 1992 are more eclectic in their tastes than the highbrows of 1982. Authors argue that many structural changes, including in the art world, have led highbrows to distance themselves from an “exclusive snob” cultural attitude.
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Robson, Karen, and Chris Sanders, eds. 2009. Quantifying theory: Pierre Bourdieu. Toronto: Springer.
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An important contribution to the Bourdieusian literature, as every chapter in the book clarifies the link between Bourdieu’s concepts and their operationalization. In particular, chapter 4, “The Homology Thesis: Distinction Revisited” (pp. 47–60), written by Philippe Coulangeon and Yannick Lemel, is an essential read in order to understand the meaning of eclectic repertoires.
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Warde, Alan. 2011. Cultural hostility re-considered. Cultural Sociology 5.3: 341–366.
DOI: 10.1177/1749975510387755Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An essential read because it analyzes the prevalence of cultural hostility, which is an unexplored issue in the literature on taste stratification. The omnivore debate also lacks such a source, because tolerance is directly associated with eclectic repertoires in many cases. Takes the United Kingdom as its case and identifies different conditions (of likes and dislikes) that do and do not generate cultural hostility.
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Commentary: Theoretical Contributions

Although the majority of the contributions to the debate involve empirical research, a number of significant works do not directly measure omnivorousness but thoroughly discuss its dynamics on the theoretical level. For instance, van Eijck 2000 and Katz-Gerro 2011 provide a comprehensive overview of the progress of the debate, while works such as Lahire 2008 and Rimmer 2012 challenge Peterson’s original formulation. The links of omnivorous orientation with wider phenomena and social change are explored successfully in Kearon 2012 and Prieur and Savage 2013. These resources allow us to stop, think, and refine our conceptualization of omnivorousness and its relationship with other sociocultural and economic developments, before proceeding to the field and replicating similar case studies.

Katz-Gerro, Tally. 2011. Cross-national cultural consumption research: Inspirations and disillusions. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 63.51: 339–360.
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Explores the dynamics of cross-national research in cultural consumption; a must-read for all consumption researchers. Reviews the literature, highlights the characteristics of the accumulated knowledge, discusses the pitfalls, and arrives at two main goals for field research in consumption.
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Kearon, Tony. 2012. From arbiter to omnivore: The bourgeois transcendent self and the other in disorganised modernity. Human Studies 35.3: 383–399.
DOI: 10.1007/s10746-012-9241-1Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Discusses the ways in which the prevalence of omnivorousness is related to the insecurities that the bourgeoisie self faces in modernity. Explores the characteristics of omnivore and the discursive construction of its ultimate other—univore—to reveal their role in the construction of modern identity.
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Lahire, Bernard. 2008. The individual and the mixing of genres: Cultural dissonance and self-distinction. Poetics 36.2–3: 166–188.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2008.02.001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Particularly significant for cultural sociologists. Challenges the homogeneous reading of class cultures. Extracts the reasons behind the dissonant elements, without considering them outliers. Also discusses the ways in which the proposed theory on intra-individual behavior variation differs from the omnivore thesis.
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Lizardo, Omar, and Sara Skiles. 2012. Reconceptualizing and theorizing “omnivorousness”: Genetic and relational mechanisms. Sociological Theory 30.4: 263–282.
DOI: 10.1177/0735275112466999Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An essential read that provides valuable theoretical insight into the debate. Highlights the significance of how omnivorous taste develops in early and late socialization. Argues that it manifests itself in horizontal boundary-drawing moments through which culturally “competent” puts a distance between itself from its counterparts.
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Prieur, Annick, and Mike Savage. 2013. Emerging forms of cultural capital. European Societies 15.2: 246–267.
DOI: 10.1080/14616696.2012.748930Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Expands the discussion on omnivorousness, and explores the new forms that cultural capital has taken since it was operationalized by Bourdieu. Argues that rather than the consumed objects per se, it is the new mode of relating to culture that is used as a tool for performing distinction.
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Rimmer, Mark. 2012. Beyond omnivores and univores: The promise of a concept of musical habitus. Cultural Sociology 6.3: 299–318.
DOI: 10.1177/1749975511401278Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Engages with the omnivore thesis and identifies limitations of some frequently made assumptions. Puts forward musical habitus as a new theoretical tool. Highlights the fact that the use of broad genre categories fails to show the role of music in everyday life and does not reveal whether music taste is actually used in drawing boundaries.
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Robette, Nicolas, and Olivier Roueff. 2014. An eclectic eclectism: Methodological and theoretical issues about the quantification of cultural omnivorism. Poetics 47.1: 23–40.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2014.10.002Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Compares different operationalizations of omnivorism by analyzing the method-related choices made in a number of frequently referenced studies. Shows that omnivorousness might not be as widespread as some researchers argue. Questions the reasons behind the popularity of the concept. Critically discusses the links between the tolerant image created by the concept and the expectations of academics.
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van Eijck, Koen. 2000. Richard A. Peterson and the culture of consumption. Poetics 2.3: 207–224.
DOI: 10.1016/S0304-422X(00)00022-XSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Provides a comprehensive review of Peterson’s contributions to the cultural consumption literature. Discusses Peterson’s conceptualization of the omnivore in detail and extracts the qualities of eclectic repertoire holders. Using the findings of other researchers, the author in this commentary article provides an excellent picture of the debate and Peterson’s findings.
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Investigation of Multiple Cultural Fields

Growing interest in omnivorous repertoires in the 2000s motivated researchers to collect extensive data on tastes in multiple cultural fields. Since many of these data sets are representative samples, as in Prieur, et al. 2008; Warde, et al. 2008; and Purhonen, et al. 2011, they allow us to see the major dynamics of cultural appreciation and structural position in a given national context. In some countries, government departments collect data on participation in cultural events and—less frequently—on tastes. By utilizing these existing databases, researchers have found the opportunity to explore different cultural spheres as well as the relationship between these fields.

Alderson, Arthur S., Azamat Junisbai, and Isaac Heacock. 2007. Social status and cultural consumption in the United States. Poetics 35.2–3: 191–212.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2007.03.005Published:APR-JUN2007Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Explores the dynamics of cultural consumption in the United States. Similar to the analysis of musical tastes in Britain in Chan and Goldthorpe 2007 (cited under Music and Omnivorousness), the authors tests the data in relation to Bourdieu’s homology thesis, the individualization thesis, and the omnivore-univore thesis. Argues that the data supports the omnivore-univore thesis but more in association with social status than with social class.
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Prieur, Annick, Lennart Rosenlund, and Jakob Skjott-Larsen. 2008. Cultural capital today: A case study from Denmark. Poetics 36.1: 45–71.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2008.02.008Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Analyzes the dynamics of cultural consumption and stratification in Denmark and engages with various ongoing debates, such as the rise of individualism, the eradication of cultural boundaries, etc. Argues that omnivore profile holders are not inclusive or tolerant because they continue to draw cultural boundaries. Significantly contributes to the debate as it introduces an emerging and hierarchical opposition between local and cosmopolitan cultural forms.
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Purhonen, Semi, Jukka Gronow, and Keijo Rahkonen. 2011. Highbrow culture in Finland: Knowledge, taste and participation. Acta Sociologica 54.4: 385–402.
DOI: 10.1177/0001699311422092Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Takes Finland as its case and tests different but well-known theses on class-cultural consumption dynamics. Makes an important contribution to the debate as it measures cultural appreciation by using knowledge, taste, and participation as proxies. Finds that taste and participation, rather than knowledge, indicate cultural capital.
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Roose, Henk, Koen van Eijck, and John Lievens. 2012. Culture of distinction or culture of openness? Using a social space approach to analyse the social structuring of lifestyles. Poetics 40.6: 491–513.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2012.08.001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Uses data gathered in Flanders and multiple correspondence analysis to explore the dynamics of the consumption sphere. Contributes to the debate as it adds variables capable of measuring dispositions to the analysis. The third axis of the analysis reveals interesting findings about the holders of open dispositions.
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Sintas, Jordi Lopez, and Ercilia Garcia Alvarez. 2002. Omnivores show up again: The segmentation of cultural consumers in Spanish social space. European Sociological Review 18.3: 353–368.
DOI: 10.1093/esr/18.3.353Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Analyzes the omnivore thesis in the Spanish context. Uses latent class analysis and extracts four different types of cultural consumers. Reveals that omnivorousness is the feature of one of these groups. The authors then discuss the socioeconomic variables associated with this particular group. They show that, consistent with other national contexts, omnivores in Spain are more likely to come from upper-class and young social fractions.
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Snowball, J. D., M. Jamal, and K. G. Willis. 2010. Cultural consumption patterns in South Africa: An investigation of the theory of cultural omnivores. Social Indicators Research 97.3: 467–483.
DOI: 10.1007/s11205-009-9513-ySave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Explores the omnivore thesis in the South African context. Reveals that, contrary to expectations, highly educated and high-income groups tend to be univore, while medium levels of education and income correlate more closely with omnivore groups. Engages with Tampubolon 2008 (cited under Music and Omnivorousness) and extracts different types of omnivores with different intentions and genre tastes.
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Stichele, Alexander Vander, and Rudi Laermans. 2006. Cultural participation in Flanders: Testing the cultural omnivore thesis with population data. Poetics 34.1: 45–64.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2005.09.002Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Explores the Flemish cultural consumption sphere using data collected in 2002 and 2003. Introduces the frequency of consumption as a variable that differentiates the types of cultural consumers identified by latent class analysis. Challenges the straightforward understanding of omnivorousness in demonstrating that eclecticism is an orientation both toward high and low culture, the degree of which changes in relation to the frequency of participation.
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Veenstra, Gerry. 2005. Can taste illumine class? Cultural knowledge and forms of inequality. Canadian Journal of Sociology 30.3: 247–279.
DOI: 10.1353/cjs.2005.0057Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Explores the thesis of cultural distinction and omnivorousness by taking Canada as its national context. Makes an important contribution as it also examines how class is interlinked with gender and ethnicity. Notes how the contemporary Canadian cultural field is different from that of France as portrayed in Bourdieu 1984 (cited under Reference Texts). Also identifies the importance of economic capital in the distinction of tastes.
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Warde, Alan, and Modesto Gayo-Cal. 2009. The anatomy of cultural omnivorousness: The case of the United Kingdom. Poetics 37.2: 119–145.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2008.12.001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An important read for those who are looking for a sophisticated application and discussion of methods within the omnivore debate. Introduces a tripartite classification and uses it to identify the dynamics of cultural hierarchy, in particular, and the characteristics of omnivores, in general. The high degree of appreciation of legitimate culture by the true omnivores is worth attention.
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Warde, Alan, David Wright, and Modesto Gayo-Cal. 2008. The omnivorous orientation in the UK. Poetics 36.2–3: 148–165.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2008.02.004Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Authors use the same large-scale data set they used in Warde, et al. 2007 (cited under Qualitative Analysis of Omnivore Profiles) on the myth of the omnivore. Utilizes both interview data and survey data. Goes beyond identifying and discussing omnivorousness and outlines a number of important points to consider in the operationalization of the omnivore. Significantly contributes to the debate as it challenges the direct association formed between eclectic repertoires and cultural tolerance.
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Music and Omnivorousness

The field of music has received the highest amount of attention in this debate. The term was first coined after analysis of music tastes, and many researchers took the same consumption field to engage with the original study. It is also easier to identify and use “brow” categories if one chooses to investigate the musical field (e.g., the classical music-highbrow association). Although generalizing the findings peculiar to musical taste might be problematic, the knowledge accumulated by concentrated analysis of musical taste enables us to reflect on the dynamics of cultural hierarchy in many national contexts. For instance, van Eijck 2001 explores the domain of music in the Netherlands; Lopez-Sintas, et al. 2008 does so for Spain; Tampubolon 2008 for the United States; Savage and Gayo 2011 for the United Kingdom; and Roose and Vander Stichele 2010 for Flanders. These studies have refined our understanding of omnivorousness. For instance, Bryson 1997 shows that class is not the sole determinant of taste boundaries. Through analysis of the musical field, Sonnett 2004 challenges Peterson’s inverted pyramid explanation, while Coulangeon 2005 demonstrates that eclecticism is structured by the uneven distribution of cultural capital.

Bryson, Bethany. 1997. What about the univores? Musical dislikes and group-based identity construction among Americans with low levels of education. Poetics 2.3: 141–156.
DOI: 10.1016/S0304-422X(97)00008-9Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Focuses on musical dislikes instead of likes to explore how far lowbrow cultural profile holders are exclusive (univore) in their choices. Finds that factors such as race, ethnicity, religious conservatism, and geographic region affect Americans with low levels of education more than they affect the highly educated. Makes an important contribution to the debate by also showing that class is not the sole determinant of taste boundaries.
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Chan, Tak Wing, and John H. Goldthorpe. 2007. Social stratification and cultural consumption: Music in England. European Sociological Review 23.1: 1–19.
DOI: 10.1093/esr/jc1016Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
The article aims to engage with the debates on the current status of cultural hierarchy by using data on musical tastes in the united Kingdom and employing latent class and regression analysis. The authors interpret the findings in relation to Bourdieu’s homology thesis, the well-known individualization thesis, and the omnivore thesis. Highlights the fact that omnivorousness can be the expression of quite distinct dispositions (status competition versus self-realization) and argues that the latter tends to explain the British case.
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Coulangeon, Philippe. 2005. Social stratification of musical tastes: Questioning the cultural legitimacy model. Revue française de Sociologie 46: 123–154.
DOI: 10.3917/rfs.465.0123Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Written in French and translated into English. Uses French data on musical tastes, tests whether it is the cultural legitimacy or the omnivore thesis that explains the emergent patterns. Finds broad taste patterns but also shows that eclecticism qualifies refinement when it is selective. Significantly contributes to the debate, as it shows that the emergence of eclectic repertoires is structured by the uneven distribution of cultural capital.
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Goldberg, Amir. 2011. Mapping shared understandings using relational class analysis: The case of the cultural omnivore reexamined. American Journal of Sociology 116.5: 1397–1436.
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Essential reading. Uses an innovative statistical procedure—relational class analysis—to identify groups that have “shared understandings” regarding the cultural domain under analysis. Uses data on the musical tastes of Americans. Finds that different logics of distinction coexist and that they follow different trajectories and adopt different strategies (e.g., redrawing the boundaries or using the established ones).
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Lopez-Sintas, Jordi, Garcia-Alvarez, Maria Ercilia, and Nela Filimon. 2008. Scale and periodicities of recorded music consumption: Reconciling Bourdieu’s theory of taste with facts. Sociological Review 56.1: 78–101.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.2008.00778.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Explores music taste in Spain to reveal current dynamics of cultural consumption and to see how far omnivorousness can be observed in the Spanish case. Finds an omnivorous pattern among the middle class but shows that it has many variants related to the types and levels of capital that respondents hold. Also contributes to the debate by showing how economic resources facilitate the use of technology and how this then increases the consumption options of privileged classes.
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Roose, Henk, and Alexander Vander Stichele. 2010. Living room vs. concert hall patterns of music consumption in Flanders. Social Forces 89.1: 185–207.
DOI: 10.1353/sof.2010.0077Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Compares public and private music consumption in Flanders. Finds that cultural capital has more explanatory power on public consumption. Identifies two types of omnivores (listeners/attenders) with different genre combinations. A public-private distinction in the analysis allows the authors to discuss the network and socialization effects on the rise of eclectic repertoires.
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Savage, Mike, and Modesto Gayo. 2011. Unravelling the omnivore: A field analysis of contemporary musical taste in the United Kingdom. Poetics 39.5: 337–357.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2011.07.001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Makes an important contribution to the debate. Uses data on music taste in the United Kingdom and uses multiple correspondence analysis as well as interview quotes. Identifies different types of omnivores. Rather than assuming that omnivores are tolerant, the authors highlight the significance of new boundaries drawn by eclectic repertoires, which are also found to be exclusive.
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Sonnett, John. 2004. Musical boundaries: Intersections of form and content. Poetics 32.3–4: 247–264.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2004.05.007Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Uses data on musical tastes in the United States and employs qualitative comparative analysis and correspondence analysis to engage with the omnivore debate. Empirically tests the readily accepted associations in cultural consumption literature, such as univore-lowbrow. Challenges Peterson’s inverted pyramid explanation. Its methodological innovativeness makes a great contribution to the debate.
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Tampubolon, Gindo. 2008. Revisiting omnivores in America circa 1990s: The exclusiveness of omnivores? Poetics 36.2–3: 243–264.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2008.02.007Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A very important study that engages with the findings on univore profiles in Bryson 1997. Uses a data set (previously used in this debate) to show that decisions regarding methods can wrongly portray univores as groups of people with strong preferences for few things. Demonstrates that univores have strong dislikes for many items and that people of high status dislike other high-status cultures as well as certain forms of low culture.
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van Eijck, Koen. 2001. Social differentiation in musical taste patterns. Social Forces 79.3: 1163–1185.
DOI: 10.1353/sof.2001.0017Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Taking musical taste and the Dutch population as a case, the author examines Peterson’s omnivore thesis. Finds wider taste profiles among individuals of high status. Further analysis reveals that their omnivorousness was more related to the number of genres they liked, not to the types of genres they preferred. Reveals that a distinct new middle-class fraction shows this eclecticism, which draws on a careful combination of music discourses rather than easy boundary crossing.
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Omnivorousness and Bodily Consumption

In addition to music, researchers have explored the consumption domains in which bodies are shaped and cultivated. These domains are particularly important in Bourdieu’s thesis of distinction (embodied cultural capital), and thus their investigation provides a fertile ground upon which the two theses of “tolerance” and “distinction” can be debated. Warde, et al. 1999 examines eating out habits in the United Kingdom, and this work is the earliest example of this subtheme in the omnivore debate. Johnston and Baumann 2007, on the other hand, explores gourmet food magazines and shows how they imbue high status to previously low-status foods and thus support the omnivore thesis to some degree. The omnivorous orientation’s links with corporeality are examined in more detail in Hedegard 2013 and Widdop and Cutts 2013.

Hedegard, Danielle. 2013. Blackness and experience in omnivorous cultural consumption: Evidence from the tourism of capoeira in Salvador, Brazil. Poetics 47.1: 1–26.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2012.11.003Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Engages with the omnivore debate, but with an unorthodox theme and method. Uses participant observation and analyzes the interaction of tourists with capoeira practitioners in Brazil. Identifies the symbols of blackness that are appreciated by the omnivore’s repertoire. A refreshing piece that brings the issue of cosmopolitanism to the center of the debate.
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Johnston, Josee, and Shyon Baumann. 2007. Democracy versus distinction: A study of omnivorousness in gourmet food writing. American Journal of Sociology 113.1: 165–204.
DOI: 10.1086/518923Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An original study in terms of its approach and methods. Examines gourmet food journalism to extract the kind of references writers attribute to good quality food. Shows how low-status foods (e.g., hamburgers) and ethnic foods are rebranded discursively in such magazines and imbued with high status. Discusses how distinction and omnivorousness are performed in tune with each other.
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Warde, Alan, Martens Lydia, and Olsen Wendy. 1999. Consumption and the problem of variety: Cultural omnivorousness, social distinction and dining out. Sociology 33.1: 105–127.
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Analyzes eating out in Britain. Argues that certain occupational groups adopt omnivorousness to avoid the anxiety of the modern consumption scene. Shows that the urban middle classes perform social distinction by eating in a wide range of foreign restaurants. Contributes to the debate substantially as it highlights why mutual recognition between groups is necessary in order to make such cultural knowledge usable.
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Widdop, Paul, and David Cutts. 2013. Social stratification and sports’ participation in England. Leisure Sciences 35.2: 107–128.
DOI: 10.1080/01490400.2013.761903Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Contributes to the debate as it takes a relatively unexplored consumption domain—sports—to engage with the omnivore debate. Uses data from the United Kingdom and employs latent class analysis. Identifies “classic,” “highbrow,” and “lowbrow” omnivores, who have different socioeconomic characteristics.
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Visual and Performing Arts and Reading

These cultural fields have not been explored as much as the music field. In larger projects, they are investigated together with other cultural fields. Yet these fields are explored in a few important studies, separately, in detail. It is important to note that these fields, especially performing arts, include the kinds of cultural activities that have frequently been associated with high culture (e.g., theater, opera). Moreover, their consumption requires temporal and economic investment. Therefore, studies looking at these fields can refine our understanding of the relationship between culture and class. Unlike the analysis of other cultural fields, the analyses referred to below seem to show the limited nature of tolerance and eclecticism more clearly. For instance, Chan and Goldthorpe 2007 explores data from the United Kingdom and cannot find an omnivorous orientation that is as strong as that found in other fields. On the other hand, Tampubolon 2010 proves the existence of the awareness of a cultural hierarchy among omnivores, challenging the character of tolerance attributed to them. Berghman and van Eijck 2009, on the other hand, demonstrates how significant it is to look at genre combination for our understanding of omnivorousness.

Berghman, Michael, and Koen van Eijck. 2009. Visual arts appreciation patterns: Crossing horizontal and vertical boundaries within the cultural hierarchy. Poetics 37.4: 348–365.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2009.06.003Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Explores tastes in visual arts in Flanders. Makes an important contribution to the debate since the authors question different forms of cultural eclecticism stemming from both horizontal and vertical boundary crossings. Engages with the findings in Bellavance 2008 (cited under Qualitative Analysis of Omnivore Profiles), which reveals a similar outcome. Highlights the significance of the combination of genres and calls for a clarification in the conceptualization of the omnivore repertoires.
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Chan, Tak Wing, and John H. Goldthorpe. 2007. Social stratification and cultural consumption: The visual arts in England. Poetics 35.2–3: 168–190.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2007.05.002Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Similar to Chan and Goldthorpe 2007 (cited under Music and Omnivorousness), the authors test Bourdieu’s homology thesis, individualization thesis, and omnivore-univore thesis, but this time by using tastes in visual arts in Britain. Consistent with their findings for other cultural consumption fields, these findings strongly challenge the individualization and homology thesis. Makes an important contribution to the debate because they cannot find an omnivorous orientation as strong as in other fields, opening the repertoire character of omnivorousness to question.
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Fisher, Timothy C. G., and Stephen B. Preece. 2003. Evolution, extinction, or status quo? Canadian performing arts audiences in the 1990s. Poetics 31.2: 69–86.
DOI: 10.1016/S0304-422X(03)00004-4Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Analyzes the omnivore thesis in the Canadian context. Uses participation in musical events as a proxy to measure omnivorousness and applies multivariate regression analysis to explore the reasons behind changing dynamics. Finds that omnivorousness is an increasing trend, especially among young and urban Canadians. Discusses the reasons behind the decline in the number of cultural snobs.
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Sintas, Jordi Lopez, and Ercilia Garcia Alvarez. 2004. Omnivore versus univore consumption and its symbolic properties: Evidence from Spaniards’ performing arts attendance. Poetics 32:463–483.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2004.08.001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Uses data on performing arts attendance in Spain to arrive at consumer taxonomies. Also discusses how those patterns relate to various significant variables, and tests the homology thesis. The types of omnivores and univores found in this study challenge the readily accepted suggestions of the original omnivore thesis.
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Tampubolon, Gindo. 2010. Social stratification and cultures hierarchy among the omnivores: Evidence from the Arts Council England surveys. Sociological Review 58.1: 1–25.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.2009.01880.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An important contribution to the literature. After critically analyzing the cultural consumption sphere in the United States in Tampubolon 2008 (cited under Music and Omnivorousness), the author now looks at data from the United Kingdom. Reveals the class character of cultural consumption. Challenges the tolerant image attributed to omnivores and proves the existence and awareness of a cultural hierarchy.
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Torche, Florencia. 2007. Social status and cultural consumption: The case of reading in Chile. Poetics 35.2–3: 70–92.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2007.03.004Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A good source for those who want to know more about the dynamics of cultural consumption fields in a national context outside North America and Europe, where the debate originated. Takes reading and Chile as a case, and shows that economic, cultural, and status indicators associate differently with types and choices of reading. Also finds that omnivorous orientation exists, does associate with one’s status position, and is being used as a tool to express symbolic distinction.
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Zavisca, Jane. 2005. The status of cultural omnivorism: A case study of reading in Russia. Social Forces 84.2: 1233–1255.
DOI: 10.1353/sof.2006.0042Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Contributes to the debate significantly by employing a mixed methods design and by taking a national context (Russia) and cultural domain (reading) that remained unexplored in the debate. Finds out that those endowed with high cultural and economic capital are likely to have omnivorous profiles. However, qualitative analysis showcases that, depending on their economic trajectories, omnivores use conflicting discourses regarding the new order.
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Qualitative Analysis of Omnivore Profiles

Most of the studies in this debate draw on quantitative identification and analysis of eclectic repertoires and their association with variables such as age, gender, ethnicity, etc. Regrettably, very few studies explore experiencing omnivorousness in depth. Bellavance 2008 employs qualitative methods and finds different modes of eclecticism. Ollivier 2008 critically questions the extent to which omnivorousness involves openness. Taking the methods of analysis into account is especially important in this debate, since some researchers, as found in Atkinson 2011, argue that the identification of eclecticism is merely an artifact of the survey method.

Atkinson, Will. 2011. The context and genesis of musical tastes: Omnivorousness debunked, Bourdieu buttressed. Poetics 39.3: 169–186.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2011.03.002Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Takes musical taste as its case and explores the omnivore thesis by means of qualitative analysis. Strongly criticizes the quantitative measurements of omnivorousness that fail to examine the dynamics of “boundary crossing” in the everyday. Significantly contributes to the debate as it raises questions about the impact of methodology and whether the identification of omnivorousness is a methodological artifact.
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Bellavance, Guy. 2008. Where’s high? Who’s low? What’s new? Classification and stratification inside cultural “repertoires.” Poetics 36.2–3: 189–216.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2008.02.003Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Analyzes omnivore orientations among upper-middle-class Canadians. A good read for researchers who are interested in discussing the meaning of omnivorousness by means of micro-qualitative in-depth analysis instead of the analysis of large-scale survey data. An important contribution to the debate because it introduces another opposition (in addition to the high-low distinction) that can be considered a boundary to be observed in the measure of omnivorousness.
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Ollivier, Michele. 2008. Modes of openness to cultural diversity: Humanist, populist, practical, and indifferent. Poetics 36.2–3: 120–147.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2008.02.005Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A must-read piece. Draws on qualitative data from Quebec and questions how far people identified as omnivorous through quantitative measures are actually open to diversity. Shows that cultural hierarchies are not disappearing. Also generates critical insight into the politics around the rising rhetoric of omnivorousness with respect to cultural diversity.
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Warde, Alan, David Wright, and Modesto Gayo-Cal. 2007. Understanding cultural omnivorousness: Or, the myth of the cultural omnivore. Cultural Sociology 1.2: 143–164.
DOI: 10.1177/1749975507078185Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
One of the most-cited articles in the debate. Takes the United Kingdom as its context and uses mixed methods design to analyze the assumptions of the omnivorousness thesis. After identifying the respondents as omnivorous by means of quantitative assessment, the authors unpacks respondents’ cultural appreciation dynamics and how they experience their tastes qualitatively. A major contribution to the debate thanks to the comprehensiveness of the analysis and the challenging findings regarding the degree of distinctiveness of eclectic repertoires.
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Comparisons of Different Cultural Consumption Domains and National Contexts

Comparisons propose serious methodological challenges to the researchers and make them less appealing. In particular, the measurement tools have to be unique in order to capture the nature of cultural hierarchies in that particular national context. Comparing omnivorousness across fields is also not an easy task, as it requires careful and comparable operationalization. However, comparative designs are extremely important for this debate because only they can provide answers to some of the most frequently asked questions. Is cultural tolerance more likely to be observed in the United States than in Europe, where cultural distinctions are more pronounced? Lizardo and Skiles 2009 helps us to think how far we can extrapolate from the openness observed mainly in the music field. Purhonen, et al. 2010 allows us to question if there is a homology across fields. Fishman and Lizardo 2013 makes us question the ways in which macro-historical change shapes cultural taste in different national contexts. Thanks to their research designs, the resources listed below shed light on crucial questions, including the ones listed above.

Daloz, Jean-Pascal. 2010. The sociology of elite distinction: From theoretical to comparative perspectives. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
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Analyzes the dynamics of performing distinction. Compares different cultures and different time periods. The author also reviews the omnivore thesis in his analysis. A good source for those who are interested in discovering how familiar concepts of cultural consumption and taste work under different national settings.
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Fishman, Robert M., and Omar Lizardo. 2013. How macro-historical change shapes cultural taste: Legacies of democratization in Spain and Portugal. American Sociological Review 78.2: 213–239.
DOI: 10.1177/0003122413478816Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A must-read that takes the institutional and national contexts into account rather than replicating a measurement. Compares Portugal and Spain and questions the different levels of omnivorousness measured in these two countries. Reveals the effect of institutional dynamics in creating distinct associations between sociocultural variables and the degree of omnivorousness.
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Lizardo, Omar, and Sara Skiles. 2009. Highbrow omnivorousness on the small screen? Cultural industry systems and patterns of cultural choice in Europe. Poetics 37:1–23.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2008.10.001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Makes an important contribution as it compares different national contexts by considering the peculiarities of the conditions of cultural production in those countries. Identifies different patterns of appreciation in the field of television, explores how they relate to socioeconomic variables, and discusses how distinct cultural production systems affect these relations.
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Purhonen, Semi, Jukka Gronow, and Keijo Rahkonen. 2010. Nordic democracy of taste? Cultural omnivorousness in musical and literary taste preferences in Finland. Poetics 38.3: 266–298.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2010.03.003Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This study makes an exceptional contribution to the debate. Takes two consumption fields (music and literature) from Finland and explores omnivorousness comparatively. Moreover, applies the analysis both by an omnivorousness measure “by volume” as well as “by composition.” Allows us to see field-based and operationalization-based variations.
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Change in Cultural Consumption Patterns over Time and the State of Omnivorous Profiles

Omnivorous profiles are argued to have emerged in the late 20th century and thus the debate has always included a dimension of social change. However, not many researchers engaged in this debate have employed longitudinal designs or introduced a time perspective to their analysis. While this may be due largely to the lack of available data, the work of a few researchers does shed light into the change in the character of cultural appreciation patterns. Jaeger and Katz-Gerro 2010 explores conditions in Denmark; DiMaggio and Mukhtar 2004 analyzes the case of the United States; van Eijck and Knulst 2005 uses data from the Netherlands; and Ollivier, et al. 2009 explores the Québécois context. Some contributors, in works such as Lopez-Sintas and Katz-Gerro 2005 and Garcia-Alvarez, et al. 2007, first identify the different types of omnivores and then discuss their relative prevalence in time.

DiMaggio, Paul, and Toqir Mukhtar. 2004. Arts participation as cultural capital in the United States, 1982–2002: Signs of decline? Poetics 32.2: 169–194.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2004.02.005Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Analyzes the changes in the role of art as cultural capital by using data collected in 1982, 1992, and 2002 in the United States. Extracts various trends in consumption practices across time and shows how the changes are related to variables such as education, age, and gender. Findings also support the omnivore thesis. Makes a significant contribution to the debate because it introduces a time perspective to the analysis.
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Garcia-Alvarez, Ercilia, Tally Katz-Gerro, and Jordi Lopez-Sintas. 2007. Deconstructing cultural omnivorousness 1982–2002: Heterology in Americans’ musical preferences. Social Forces 86.2: 417–443.
DOI: 10.1093/sf/86.2.417Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An important source for those who seek to know the dimension of social change in consumption styles. Takes music tastes in the United States as its case and identifies different consumption styles, including omnivorousness. It then contextualizes these types into the time period they analyze and further investigate the kinds of variables (race, gender, class, etc.) with which these types associate. Criticizes Bourdieu’s assumption—homology—with empirical data.
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Graham, Roderick. 2011. Jazz consumption among African Americans from 1982 to 2008. Journal of Black Studies 42.6: 993–1018.
DOI: 10.1177/0021934711400602Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Analyzes the profile of jazz consumers among African Americans using comparable data sets collected every ten years between 1982 and 2008. Discusses the ways in which historical and structural conditions change taste hierarchies and how these changes relate to race and class categories.
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Jaeger, Mads Meier, and Tally Katz-Gerro. 2010. The rise of the eclectic consumer in Denmark, 1964–2004. Sociological Quarterly 51.3: 460–483.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1533-8525.2010.01175.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An important contribution to the debate. Uses comparable data sets from the period 1964–2004, explores the trajectory of eclectic consumers in Denmark, and links the findings to the peculiarities of national context. Contrary to what has been discussed in other national contexts, this study reveals that the impact of stratification variables on omnivorousness decreases over time. Authors suggest that the rise of the Danish welfare state and equality-promoting cultural policies are the reasons for this decline.
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Katz-Gerro, Tally, and Mads Meier Jaeger. 2013. Top of the pops, ascend of the omnivores, defeat of the couch potatoes: Cultural consumption profiles in Denmark, 1975–2004. European Sociological Review 29.2: 243–260.
DOI: 10.1093/esr/jcr058Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Analyzes cultural consumption practices in Denmark using data that covers the years 1975–2004. Applies thorough statistical procedures and successfully links findings to the accumulated literature. Reveals that omnivorous orientation is not a new disposition among the high class. Finds that the size of the omnivore cluster as well as the activity level change over time.
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Lopez-Sintas, Jordi, and Tally Katz-Gerro. 2005. From exclusive to inclusive elitists and further: Twenty years of omnivorousness and cultural diversity in arts participation in the USA. Poetics 33:299–319.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2005.10.004Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Uses comparable data sets collected in 1982, 1992, and 2002. Finds clusters of arts attendance within the data to question the change in cultural consumption patterns. Also questions the socioeconomic features of the omnivore cluster. Contributes to the debate as it demonstrates that the change in cultural appreciation is not linear and that there are different types of cultural omnivorousness with different trajectories.
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Ollivier, Michele, Guy Gauthier, and Alexis Hieu Truong. 2009. Cultural classifications and social divisions: A symmetrical approach. Poetics 37.5: 456–473.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2009.09.005Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Uses data from Quebec and makes two important contributions to the literature. Uses a symmetrical approach and also includes discursive dimensions in the analysis. The analysis of social boundaries reveals two groups: one is closer to Peterson’s omnivore, and the other is closer to Florida’s youthful eclectics.
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van Eijck, Koen, and Wim Knulst. 2005. No more need for snobbism: Highbrow cultural participation in a taste democracy. European Sociological Review 21.5: 513–528.
DOI: 10.1093/esr/jci038Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Takes the Netherlands as a case study and uses comparable cross-sectional data collected between 1983 and 1999. Questions the reasons behind the association between age and consumption of high and popular culture and explores why interest in high culture diminishes. Argues that educational institutions were not effective in transferring a disposition that attributes high value to Western elite culture after 1955, as was once the case.
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Omnivorousness and Education, Youth, and Social Mobility

Eclecticism is extensively debated in relation to institutionalized cultural capital (school degrees), curricula, youths’ repertoires, and social mobility. It is argued that these elements have a huge role in fostering or limiting the emergence of cultural omnivorousness. For instance, Emmison 2003 shows how far social mobility increases the likelihood of eclecticism in Australia, and Graham 2009 examines the extent to which musical education affects the degree of openness. Furthermore, Gripsrud, et al. 2011 adds a time perspective to the analysis of the education sphere and analyze Norwegian students’ tastes in literature and music to grasp the changing dynamics of cultural appreciation.

Emmison, Michael. 2003. Social class and cultural mobility: Reconfiguring the cultural omnivore thesis. Journal of Sociology 39.3: 211–230.
DOI: 10.1177/00048690030393001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Takes the Australian cultural consumption domain as a case to study omnivorousness. Contributes to the debate significantly as it raises the issue of social mobility and its effects on the changing dynamics of cultural hierarchy and on the emergence of new inclusive cultural omnivores. Proposes that a new eclectic and inclusive trend is related to cultural mobility rather than to the “postmodern condition” and the erosion of traditional cultural hierarchies.
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Friedman, Sam. 2012. Cultural omnivores or culturally homeless? Exploring the shifting cultural identities of the upwardly mobile. Poetics 40.5: 467–489.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2012.07.001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Finds a limited number of eclectic repertoires after analyzing comedy tastes in the United Kingdom. Reveals that the omnivores in the study have upwardly mobile trajectories that allow them to know lowbrow genres. Makes an important contribution to the debate by including the influence of social mobility on boundary crossings and the impact of an ongoing taste hierarchy.
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Graham, Roderick. 2009. The function of music education in the growth of cultural openness in the USA. Music Education Research 11.3: 183–302.
DOI: 10.1080/14613800903144296Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An important contribution to the literature because, by focusing on respondents’ music education levels, it looks for the factors that give rise to omnivorousness. Reveals interesting findings about the association between omnivorousness and the level of music education, race, and genre preferences.
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Gripsrud, Jostein, Jan Fredrik Hovden, and Hallvard Moe. 2011. Changing relations: Class, education and cultural capital. Poetics 39.6: 507–529.
DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2011.09.007Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Explores the tastes in literature and music of Norwegian students in the time period between 1998 and 2008 to see how the relationship between taste hierarchy and cultural capital evolved. Reveals that interest in classical highbrow genres decreases over time, but that a fine-tuned combination with other genres still carries prestige.
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Relish, Michael. 1997. It’s not all education: Network measures as sources of cultural competency. Poetics 2.3: 121–139.
DOI: 10.1016/S0304-422X(97)00011-9Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Analyzes the relationship in the United States between one’s attitude toward different musical genres and one’s education level, social network, and geographic mobility. Shows that network and geographic mobility are more important in generating taste profiles that cross genre boundaries. Finds that the explanatory power of the education variable was high only in elite genres, not in popular ones. By doing so, the author challenges the original omnivore thesis, which suggests that a high level of education brings “an openness to appreciate everything.”
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Tanner, Julian, Mark Asbridge, and Scot Wortley. 2008. Our favourite melodies: Musical consumption and teenage lifestyles. British Journal of Sociology 59.1: 117–144.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-4446.2007.00185.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Analyzes the dynamics of young Toronto students’ taste in music by focusing on the effect of peer group activity. Also discovers omnivorous profiles that do, contrary to previous findings, actually contain genres that are generally excluded from the eclectic repertoires (i.e., rap music) and embodied by students who are not necessarily a part of an academic elite.
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ter Bogt, Tom F. M., Marc J. M. H. Delsing, Maarten van Zalk, et al. 2011. Intergenerational continuity of taste: Parental and adolescent music preferences. Social Forces 90.1: 297–319.
DOI: 10.1093/sf/90.1.297Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Does not directly explore the omnivore thesis but its focus on the intergenerational transmission of cultural appreciation styles deserves attention. Finds differences between the musical choices of highly educated older and younger generations. Shows that genre categorizations should be time-nation specific.
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van Wel, Frits, Willemijn Maarsingh, Tom ter Bogt, and Raaijmakers Quinten. 2008. Youth cultural styles: From snob to pop? YOUNG: Nordic Journal of Youth Research 16.3: 325–340.
DOI: 10.1177/110330880801600305Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Examines the tastes of young people in the Netherlands to see if a significant relationship exists between social position and taste. Reveals the existence of different taste patterns, including the omnivore. Although this is inconsistent with much of the literature, educational variables, including the parental one, seem to lack any explanatory power over youth taste cultures.