Sociologists argue that cultural tastes shape perceptions of individuals’ status and personal qualities. Yet it remains unclear whether highbrow and omnivorous tastes create different perceptions. To address this gap, we designed two vignette survey experiments to identify the effect of highbrow (vs. lowbrow) and omnivorous (vs. univorous) tastes on a wide range of perceptions. Results for Denmark, replicated in two experiments, show that while highbrow (vs. lowbrow) tastes elicit favorable perceptions of status, labor market success, and sophistication (i.e., being high-class, high-earning, and cultured), omnivorous (vs. univorous) tastes mainly elicit favorable perceptions of sociability (i.e., being socially oriented and warm). Supplementary analyses of qualitative text data corroborate these findings, including that omnivorous tastes elicit favorable perceptions of sociability. Finally, highbrow and omnivorous tastes create clearer perceptions of status, measured by lower variance in ratings of status. We end by addressing the implications of our results for research on cultural taste, labor markets, elites, and intersectional inequality.
Jæger et al. (Wed,) studied this question.