What about the univores? Musical dislikes and group-based identity construction among Americans with low levels of education

Abstract

This study uses data on musical dislikes to provide evidence for Peterson's (1992) theory of low-status cultural exclusiveness. Following his description of cultural univores, I hypothesize that respondents with low levels of education will be more likely than other respondents to have group-based musical dislikes. Sixteen music genres evidenced greater group-based taste distinctions for those with low levels of education than for persons with high levels of education, and the two genres representing high culture produced no significant results (as expected). There is strong evidence that less educated Americans pattern their musical taste more around race, ethnicity, religious conservatism, and geographic region. The paper concludes with suggestions for further development of theory and research around the omnivore-univore pattern of taste.