Social Class: Informs Cultural Attitudes of People

A new study by the scientists showed that musical taste is not connected to class. However, class filters into specific likes and dislikes. The study is led by Gerry Veenstra, an author and professor at UBC's Department of Sociology. Veenstra himself is partial to easy listening, musical theatre and pop.

For the study, the scientists analyzed almost 1,600 telephone interviews with adults in Vancouver and Toronto. During the interviews, the people were asked about their likes and dislikes of 21 musical genres.

As a result, the researchers found that less educated people tends to like country, disco, easy listening, golden oldies, heavy metal and rap. On the other hand, wealthier and better-educated counterparts preferred genres such as classical, blues, jazz, opera, choral, pop, reggae, rock, world and musical theatre.

The researchers were aimed to finalize whether one's class is accompanied by specific cultural tastes, or whether "elites" are defined by a broad palette of preferences.

The research showed that wealth and education do not influence a person's width of musical taste. Though, class and other factors such as age, gender, immigrant status and civilization shape our musical tastes.

Content Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150603124545.htm

Image: https://www.ted.com/topics/music