Cultural Omnivorousness

Last reviewed: February 2017

Abstract

The term “cultural omnivorousness” was coined in 1992 by sociologist Richard Peterson to explain the process by which lines between highbrow and lowbrow cultures had become blurred. Since that time, other studies on cultural omnivorousness have been conducted in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia in fields that include music, literature, economics, food, education, class, gender, race, and ethnicity. Research suggests that cultural omnivorousness is caused by cultural democratization and/or social mobility. By the first decade of the twenty-first century, some researchers were declaring that cultural omnivorousness had run its course, but scholars continue to examine the phenomenon.

Overview

As early as 1899 in The Theory of the Leisure Class, American economist Thorstein Veblen recognized what he dubbed “conspicuous consumption” among Americans who had access to disposable incomes and time to enjoy leisure activities. By the 1970s, other scholars had begun began paying significant attention to connections between social class and consumer behaviors. In 1984, Pierre Bourdieu, studied the consumption patterns of French elitists of the 1960s and 1970s. He suggested that it was essential to study the motivation behind consumer consumption in order to understand the link between social status and culture. In 1992, sociologist Richard Peterson identified the apparent blurring of cultural divides as cultural omnivorousness, describing typical cultural omnivores as young, highly educated, and affluent professionals.

As a long-term professor of sociology at Vanderbilt University with a strong interest in both arts and music, Peterson was in an ideal position to develop the concept of cultural omnivorousness. He believed that earlier cultural divisions no longer described American tastes in music and the arts. He suggested that cultural omnivorousness was a product of major political, social, and economic changes that had taken place in the United States between World War II and the 1990s. Thus, the cultural omnivore was said to make fewer distinctions between cultural genres than at any point in American history. For example, a cultural omnivore might enjoy both classical (highbrow) and country (lowbrow) music and might enjoy foods ranging from gourmet offerings to street-corner hot dogs.

Research on cultural omnivorousness suggests that it is a direct result of the democratization of the arts, which has made elements of highbrow culture more accessible to the rest of the population and redrawn lines separating different genres, and of social mobility. Socially mobile individuals have been influenced by more than one culture at different points in their lives. Thus, cultural omnivores do not recognize rigid racial, ethnic, or gender barriers. Contrarily, the univore is inclined to express preferences or engage in activities that are associated with his/her own social class. Numerous studies on cultural tastes and activities have been conducted in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Israel, Spain, and Sweden.

Fine Arts versus Popular Culture. Researchers agree that by the mid-nineteenth century, a distinction had been drawn between the fine arts and popular culture. According to Petersen’s theory, during the period between World War I and World War II, Americans generally reflected their assigned social class. As a whole, they tended to be unable to think for themselves, which made them inclined to accept whatever was popular. Just as politicians were able to influence their political views, they were inclined to buy whatever advertisers were promoting.

Lines between social classes were generally rigid, as were the definitions of highbrow and lowbrow. Highbrow activities included enjoyment and patronage of the fine arts, adhering to established patterns of good manners, speaking and dressing according to recognized standards, helping those who were less fortune, attending particular schools, and joining acceptable churches and clubs.

Middle Class Middlebrow. Middlebrows were often viewed as those who aspired to be highbrow but lacked the means to do so. Middlebrow activities included enjoying light classical music and romantic paintings and literature and wearing off-the-rack clothing. The manners of middlebrows were patterned after those of the upper class. The lowbrow segment of American culture was made up of those at the bottom of the educational and economic ladders, who were likely to belong to various ethnic groups or live in isolated, rural areas.

World War II changed the social structure of America, and isolationism was abandoned as the United States became the major world power. During the postwar period, the economy flourished, education became more accessible, the standard of living rose significantly, and the population became more upwardly mobile. Industrialization, urbanization, and television all helped to tear down cultural barriers. At the same time, the civil and women’s rights movements ensured more inclusive attitudes and policies. Within the art world, elitism was replaced with an appreciation for diversity, and the definition of what constituted “fine art” as opposed to “folk art” became less rigid. The middle-class expanded rapidly, and globalization helped to generate expanded world views.

Applications

Jordi López-Sintas and Telly Katz-Gerro (2005) chose to measure cultural omnivorousness through attendance at cultural events rather than by examining tastes. They looked at surveys (Public Participation in the Arts for 1982, 1992, and 2002, National Crime Survey for 1982 and 1992, and Current Population Survey for 2002) conducted from 1982 to 2002 to learn how cultural omnivorousness had changed since it was first measured by Richard Peterson and Albert Simkus. López-Sintas and Katz-Gerro defined highbrow individuals as those with sophisticated tastes as opposed to middlebrows (mainstream culture) and lowbrows (marginal cultures). They then classified survey respondents according to four categories: omnivores (inclusive elitist highbrows), excusive elitist highbrows (snobs), non-highbrows with lowbrow tastes (lowbrows), and non-highbrows with lowbrow distaste (passive). They found that there had been little change in attendance at arts events over the 20-year period, but attendance had increased slightly at plays, art museums, and jazz concerts. Their overall conclusion was that cultural omnivorousness had not continued to expand as it had from 1982 and 1992. However, cultural omnivorousness was still evident among American highbrows, and education was identified as the single most important factor in determining levels of cultural omnivorousness.

Music and Literature. Matthew Stimson (2013) used 2008 data on musical tastes to test for cultural omnivorousness among 17,254 American households. He found four dominant categories: the omnivore who enjoyed all types of music (23.5%), individuals who enjoyed only classical music (26.78%) and opera (8.51%), those who liked only country (36.53%) and bluegrass (15.64%), and those who preferred jazz (24.92%), blues (27.21%), and rock (53.50%). Using the same data, Goldberg also looked at omnivore participation in cultural activities in 2008, discovering that over the course of the previous year, 30.4 percent had attended a sports event. Omnivores had read an average of 12.91 books, and watched 3.09 hours of television. He also concluded that education was more important than income in explaining cultural omnivorousness.

Examining the literature on cultural omnivorousness, Tak Wing Chan and Heather Turner (2015) explain the impact of both cultural democratization and social mobility. Cultural democratization is based on the notion that definitions of what constitutes highbrow has become broader since the late twentieth century. Fields such as art and music are more open to different styles than in the past, and highbrow activities are more readily available to a wide range of consumers.

Social Mobility and Education. Research on social mobility suggests that it may influence cultural omnivorousness through the composition effect, which means that the scope of a cultural group expands without changing the consumption behavior of individuals within the group. Some researchers argue that a likelier explanation is the tendency of upwardly mobile individuals to retain tastes from other cultures as they advance up the social ladder. A final explanation involves the combination of the other two explanations as the best method of linking social mobility and cultural omnivorousness. Democratization of culture may provide the best explanation for cultural omnivorousness (Tak Wing & Turner, 2015).

Chan and his colleagues (2015) specifically looked at the impact of cultural omnivorousness on social mobility in the United Kingdom, finding that individuals who exhibited the highest levels of cultural omnivorousness were likely to be upwardly mobile. They found that the consumption of visual arts was strongly linked with the education level of survey respondents and with the educational level of their parents. Thus, they concluded that those who had always been upper class were less likely to be omnivorous than those who entered the class through upward mobility. Their findings are consistent with those of other researchers who have learned that upwardly mobile individuals are likely to retain tastes developed before they began enjoying highbrow culture. While some researchers argue that cultural omnivores are more likely to express an aversion to middlebrow culture than to lowbrow culture, Peterson and Kern found no such aversion to middlebrow culture.

Gabriel Rossman and Richard Peterson (2015) attempted to replicate Richard Peterson and Albert Sinkus’ original study (1992) of cultural omnivorousness. They also used survey data from the Public Participation in the Arts for 2002 and 2008 and compared musical tastes with those identified by Peterson and Kern. Rossman and Peterson (2015) maintain that 2002 and 2008 levels of omnivorousness were similar to those of 1982 and 1992, indicating that rates of cultural omnivorousness have receded since Peterson and Kern’s 1996 study. Rossman and Peterson (2015) suggest that the decline of cultural omnivorousness in music may be the result of increased political conservatism and/or changes within the music industry itself.

Discourse

Richard Peterson and Albert Simkus used the Survey of Participation in the Arts, a joint effort of the United States Census Bureau and the National Endowment for the Arts, to identify the characteristics of omnivores and explore patterns of consumption. Cultural views were linked to occupational status. Architects, lawyers, clergymen, and academicians were considered higher- cultural occupations, while social workers, K-12 teachers, religious workers, and public relations personnel were categorized as lower-cultural occupations. Actors, writers, dancers, editors, musicians, and artists were identified as artists who provided cultural opportunities. Individuals in higher-cultural occupations were likely to spend their leisure time attending concerts, operas, and the ballet, and visiting art museums. They also read both novels and poetry.

Class and Social Structure. Much of the work on cultural omnivorousness continued to build on the foundation laid by Pierre Bourdieu who developed the tools that allowed subsequent scholars to connect cultural tastes with social status and class. Bourdieu had examined 1,217 affluent individuals living in or near Paris. In 1992, Michèle Lamont and Marcel Fournier replicated part of Bourdieu studies but expanded it by comparing four cities, two in France and two in the United States. They found that Parisians were was still inclined to be highbrow to the point of snobbery when choosing their friends. However, social structures of New York City were less rigid, and New Yorkers were more likely to develop friendships based on economic status than on anything else. In the small cities of both France and the United States, friendships were based on honesty and trust rather than either social class or economics. Lamont and Fournier concluded that cultural omnivorousness increased as young people with more diverse backgrounds became upwardly mobile.

In 1996, Richard Peterson and Roger Kern looked at musical cultures to compare changes in levels of cultural omnivorousness between 1982 and 1992. They found that American culture had undergone a major transformation since 1980 as large numbers of higher-culture individuals adopted cultural omnivorousness in response to less rigid social structures, changing values, the democratization of the art world, and generational conflicts. While Americans in the top social and occupational strata continued to pursue the fine arts, they had also come to appreciate activities that had previously been considered lowbrow.

Results of the survey revealed that classical and operatic music were still enjoyed chiefly by highbrows, but tastes had expanded to include other types of music. Peterson identified ten true highbrows in the 1982 dataset. A decade later, that number had fallen to three. Lowbrow taste in music was classified as those who preferred country, bluegrass, gospel, rock, and blues. Middlebrows, on the other hand, expressed a willingness to listen chiefly to easy listening, Broadway musicals, and music from the Big Band era. Characteristics of cultural omnivores included having at least two years of college, living in a relatively affluent household, being white, and being female. Though some researchers have suggested that cultural omnivores are more likely to be married, Peterson and Kern found no significant difference based on marital status.

Democratization of Culture. In 2005, Richard Peterson reexamined his groundbreaking 1992 study. Peterson maintained that he and Albert Simkus has initially believed their study would reveal results similar to those of Bourdieu. They did identify a highbrow cultural group composed chiefly of affluent, highly educated urbanites, but they also found that, unlike the French of Bourdieu’s study, Americans were also interested in the same culture enjoyed by lowbrow Americans. Nevertheless, they found that both lowbrows and highbrows were often univorous in their tastes. With lowbrows, the lowbrow label was often viewed as a result of poverty that limited choices and financial access to many forms of culture. Peterson argues that the lowbrow label has, thus, become somewhat obsolete since access to culture has expanded and cultural boundaries have weakened further.

Richard Peterson and Gabriel Grossman worked together in 2005-2006 to replicate Peterson’s original study. Peterson died in 2010, and Grossman published their findings in 2015. In reference to his and Grossman’s replication of the 1982 and 1992 studies, Peterson (2005) suggests that the 2002 findings of static levels of cultural omnivorousness may indicate that cultural omnivorousness has declined in response to a demographic shift. That is, those who had been identified as omnivores in 1982 and 1992 were being replaced by younger individuals who were less likely to be omnivorous. Both Peterson and Rossman contend that using music as a measure of cultural omnivorousness has become more difficult since the introduction of iTunes. This can also be said of digital music libraries available from such sources as Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and Pandora. Some researchers have posited that a number of patterns of cultural inclusion have emerged since the 1990s, but Peterson contends that such research has failed to identify recurrent patterns.

One of the acknowledged problems with measuring cultural omnivorousness has been the gap between expressed preferences and actual participation in cultural events. Some scholars have chosen to measure cultural omnivorousness by examining what individuals say they prefer, but others have opted to examine activities that reflect an interest in particular cultural events. Peterson suggests that neither measure is perfectly accurate because individuals may enjoy an activity but be unable to participate in it due to age, family responsibilities, or financial limitations.

Terms & Concepts

Composition Effect: Proposition that the scope of a cultural group expands without changing the consumption behavior of individuals within the group.

Cultural Democratization: Expansion of the definition of highbrow taste since the late twentieth century to include a greater range of genres and media than in the past, and a reciprocal availability of traditionally highbrow activities to middle- and lower-brow consumers.

Cultural Omnivore: Individual who refuses to make rigid cultural distinctions, choosing instead to move freely from highbrow to lowbrow culture and back again.

Highbrow: Individuals sometimes referred to as “cultural snobs” because they believe that culture is elitist. Thus, they conclude that those of lower status are incapable of appreciating such cultural products as fine arts, literature, and classical music.

Lowbrow: Activities often associated with the working class and with lower economic and occupational status. Common lowbrow activities include enjoying country and bluegrass music and spending large amounts of time watching television.

Middlebrow: Activities linked to middle-income and occupational status and mainstream culture. Middlebrow musical tastes include easy listening, show tunes, and big band. Middlebrow individuals may aspire to highbrow cultural status but lack the money and time to engage in highbrow activities.

Social Mobility: Process by which individuals move from one social class to another. Mobility may be either upward or downward. Upward mobility is generally facilitated by a college education, but it may also result from inheriting wealth or prospering in business. Downward mobility usually occurs after life-changing events such as job loss, natural disasters, or divorce (for women and dependent children).

Univore: Individual who remains locked in a single culture and who tends to equate culture with a particular social class. Univores may be either highbrow or lowbrow.

Bibliography

Katz-Gerro, T., & Jæger, M. M. (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. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=86692109&site=ehost-live

López-Sintas, J., & Katz-Gerro, T. (2005). From exclusive to inclusive elitists and further: Twenty years of omnivorousness and cultural diversity in arts participation in the USA. Poetics, 33(5/6), 299–319. Retrieved October 17, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=19061340&site=ehost-live

Peterson, R. A. (2005). Problems in comparative research: The example of omnivorousness. Poetics, 33(5/6), 257–282. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=19061338&site=ehost-live

Rossman, G., & Peterson, R. A. (2005). The instability of omnivorous cultural taste over time. Conference Papers—American Sociological Association, 1–21. Retrieved October 17, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=18616225&site=ehost-live

Stimpson, M. (2013). Highbrows but not snobs: Changing patterns of elite cultural tastes. Conference Papers, American Sociological Association, 1–28. Retrieved September 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=111793109&site=ehost-live

Sullivan, O., & Katz-Gerro, T. (2007). The omnivore thesis revisited: Voracious cultural consumers. European Sociological Review, 23(2), 123–127. Retrieved September 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=25089712&site=ehost-live

Tak Wing, C. (2014). Understanding cultural omnivores: Social and political attitudes. Conference Papers—American Sociological Association, 1–34. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=111808229&site=ehost-live

Tak Wing, C., & Turner, H. (2015). Where do cultural omnivores come from? The implications of educational mobility for cultural consumption. Conference Papers—American Sociological Association, 1–17. Retrieved September 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=111785402&site=ehost-live

Suggested Reading

Bennett, T., et al. (2009). Culture, class, and distinction. London, UK: Routledge.

Chan, T. W. (Ed.) (2010). Social status and cultural consumption. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Crawford, G., Gosling, V., Bagnall, G., & Light, B. (2014). An orchestral audience: Classical music and continued patterns of distinction. Cultural Sociology, 8(4), 483–500. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=100427854&site=ehost-live

DiMaggio, P., & Mukhtar, T. (2004). Arts participation as cultural capital in the United States, 1982–2002: Signs of decline?. Poetics, 32(2), 169. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=12898093&site=ehost-live

Goldberg, A. (2011). Mapping shared understandings using relational class analysis: The case of the cultural omnivore reexamined. American Journal of Sociology, 116(5), 1397–1436. Retrieved September 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=60317363&site=ehost-live

Kearon, T. (2012). From Arbiter to Omnivore. The Bourgeois Transcendent Self and the Other in Disorganised Modernity. Human Studies, 35(3), 383-399. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=78108631&site=ehost-live

Lamont, M., & Fournier, M. (Eds.). (1992). Cultivating differences: Symbolic boundaries and the making of inequality. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Peterson, R. A. (1992). Understanding audience segmentation: From elite mass to omnivore and univore. Poetics, 21(4), 243–258.

Peterson, R. A., & Kern R. (1996). Changing highbrow taste from snob to omnivore. American Sociological Review, 61(5), 900–909. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=9706060070&site=ehost-live

Peterson, R. A., & Simkus, A. (1992). How musical tastes mark occupation status groups. In M. Lamont, M. Fournier (Eds.), Cultivating differences: Symbolic boundaries and the making of inequality (pp. 152–186). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .

Stimpson, M. (2014). Symbolic and material resources: The relevance of cultural omnivorousness during the great recession. Conference Papers—American Sociological Association, 1–38. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Sociology Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sxi&AN=111809892&site=ehost-live