1 Introduction

Cultural omnivorousness, conceptualized initially as the ability to expand one’s cultural preferences to encompass both classical and popular categories, is a concept of primary interest in studies of the cultural dimension of social stratification. In 1992, Peterson coined the term, outlining the features of a new social model of cultural taste, called the Omnivore-Univore Thesis. According to this model, people in higher positions in the social stratification tend to avoid snobbishness and prefer to cross boundaries in taste by showing a high number and diverse composition of preferences, whereas people in lower positions exhibit limited and distinct taste patterns (Peterson 1992; Peterson and Kern 1996; Peterson and Simkus 1992). This argument revised Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic boundaries in social stratification (Bennett et al. 2009; Bourdieu 2010) by de-emphasizing the differences in cultural repertoire between people in different social positions, but rather highlighting the breadth and diversity of taste.

Since the 1990s, various studies have investigated the relationships between social positions and cultural omnivorousness (e.g., Peterson 2005; Peterson and Kern 1996; Rossman and Peterson 2015; Savage and Gayo 2011). Particular attention has been paid to examining the origins of cultural omnivorousness and the factors that increase it. At the individual level, one of the drivers of omnivorous dispositions among higher classes is the value change (Peterson and Kern 1996, p. 905). The increasing importance of postmaterialist values compared with materialistic values has led to higher tolerance of otherness, which includes a diverse cultural repertoire. In addition, it was empirically demonstrated that people with omnivorous tastes are more likely to hold postmaterialist attitudes (Chan 2019), and vice versa. However, the role of individual-level values in explaining omnivorous tastes has not been empirically determined. Simultaneously, the extent to which people in different social positions are prone to holding specific values varies, especially because of different experiences in formative years. For example, higher positions in the social stratification imply greater security and greater fulfillment of survival needs, which, in turn, constitutes a condition in which postmaterialist aspects can be prioritized over materialistic aspects (Inglehart 1977, 1990; Inglehart and Welzel 2005). Following these arguments, this study is aimed at extending the Omnivore-Univore Thesis by empirically investigating the role of postmaterialist value priorities as a mediator in relationships between higher positions in the social stratification and a broad repertoire of cultural tastes.

The empirical analysis focuses on the case of Germany as an example of a modernized country in which values have changed, with a movement toward postmaterialist values. The analysis relies on cross-sectional data from the German General Social Survey (ALLBUS) in 2014 (GESIS-Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften 2018b). It allows social inequality and individual socio-economic status to be estimated from a broad perspective, including both objective aspects (differences in income, education attainment, and occupational prestige) and subjective aspects (self-assigned class identification), which are of interest in the current research of social stratification in Germany (Otte et al. 2021). Two indicators of omnivorousness were computed to capture the number of tastes by aggregating the (i) likes and (ii) dislikes for twelve musical genres (following Kunißen et al. 2018). To measure cultural omnivorousness, two variables were combined to form one reflective latent factor. To estimate the indirect effect of postmaterialist values, structural equation modeling with the robust maximum likelihood estimator was applied in Mplus (Muthén and Muthén 2017).

The paper is structured as follows: First, the theoretical framework is discussed and hypotheses are derived. After that, the data, operationalization, and methods are presented. Then the paper provides a descriptive analysis and reports on the correlation matrix and structural equation modeling results. It finishes with a discussion of the findings in terms of the Omnivore-Univore Thesis, including the limitations of the study and directions for further investigation.

2 Theoretical Framework

2.1 Introduction to Cultural Omnivorousness

Proposed by Peterson and colleagues (Peterson and Kern 1996; Peterson 1992; Peterson and Simkus 1992), the new cultural dimension of omnivorous dispositions can be related to the articulation of positions in the social structure. Thus, a new model of cultural preferences has emerged that assumes that an extensive cultural repertoire is consumed, reshaping the traditional social division of taste. The original idea underlying cultural omnivorousness is the phenomenon that upper segments of society are more tolerant of various cultural products, cross-symbolic boundaries, and manifest diverse omnivorous tastes. In contrast, lower segments in the social stratification have limited univorous preferences (Peterson and Kern 1996, pp. 901–904). Since the 1990s, the study of the omnivore argument has occupied a central place in the empirical research of cultural inequalities together with Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic boundaries, which proposes a homology of tastes in the social stratification, assuming a correspondence between certain cultural tastes and social position (Bourdieu 2010, pp. 171–205; Chen 2016; Johnston et al. 2019). According to Bourdieu’s ideas, taste plays an important role in structuring symbolic goods, which begins in the formative years through educational and cultural experiences during socialization (Bourdieu 2010). Cultural omnivorousness can be considered a new form of what Bourdieu called “legitimate taste” (2010, p. 8) or what is interpreted as privileged culture, which can be achieved and reproduced by relatively high-level segments of society. It is social in nature and plays a significant role in the social production of taste. Omnivorousness can embody the social distinction of taste and is a way in which individuals internalize social structure.

Omnivorous taste does not imply the absence of aversion to certain cultural products. Indeed, not only class-based divisions but also aesthetic reasons for rejecting certain items tend to be less salient in omnivorous dispositions (Lizardo and Skiles 2012, p. 270). As a result, omnivores have a less negative attitude toward popular culture than other groups and tend to embrace it in their preferences (Warde et al. 2008, p. 158). At the same time, marginalized cultural genres such as heavy metal music can still be criticized by omnivores (Bryson 1996). Omnivorous taste does not mean an absence of limits, but rather an openness to perceive and appreciate cultural products that are different (Peterson and Kern 1996, p. 906; Warde et al. 2007, p. 145). This was demonstrated by the finding that omnivores have a higher breadth of preferences and a highly diversified taste composition (Warde and Gayo-Cal 2009).

What is the mechanism that operates between social stratification and cultural omnivorousness? Initial studies examined differences between occupational groups and documented that higher-level occupational segments were more likely to show preferences toward both “highbrow” music and popular genres than lower segments (Peterson and Kern 1996, p. 902). They reported substantial changes in the taste of modern elites or higher classes (Peterson and Simkus 1992, p. 169). Subsequent research has focused on whether connoisseurs of cultural categories defined as “high-status” also tend to show preferences toward other, popular cultural repertoires. In addition to connections with the social stratification, the educational qualifications of individuals play an important role (Sintas and Álvarez 2002; Vander Stichele and Laermans 2006; Warde and Gayo-Cal 2009). Later studies even provide evidence that omnivores are rather well educated and belong to relatively privileged social groups (Nault et al. 2021; Warde et al. 2007), but not to high classes that have retained their selective taste patterns. Theoretical investigations have combined a focus on education and occupation, arguing that the propensity to have an omnivorous disposition develops as a result of “early experience in the family environment and [is] enhanced by formal and extracurricular education and occupational experience” (Lizardo and Skiles 2012, p. 277). In addition, it is related to the cultural capital of a family. In other words, omnivorous taste is more achievable for people who come from well-educated families in privileged positions in the social structure and have received a good education.

However, there is not sufficient evidence on what precisely cultural omnivorousness means in terms of relationships within the social stratification (e.g., Chan 2019; de Vries and Reeves 2020). On the one hand, omnivorous taste might become a new method for social distinctions and be used to legitimize and rationalize differences between social groups and draw symbolic boundaries (e.g., Chen 2016; Ollivier 2008; Warde et al. 2008; Warde and Gayo-Cal 2009). On the other hand, a broad repertoire of cultural tastes means crossing class boundaries, manifesting new aesthetic openness (Lizardo and Skiles 2012; Ollivier 2008) and tolerance toward a diversity of cultural products, operating outside the scheme of social distinctions. Thus, even though new omnivores do not like everything, they manifest broader cultural tastes, performing certain selection processes (Warde et al. 1999; de Vries and Reeves 2020).

The spread of omnivorous taste among higher-level segments has become possible owing to various critical social changes. Following Peterson and Kern’s (1996, p. 905) ideas, the upper classes’ shift from snobbishness to omnivorousness can be explained by structural change. For example, improvements in general levels of living and broader access to education have contributed to the development of omnivorous taste, “devaluing the arts as markers of exclusion” (Peterson and Kern 1996, p. 905). Smith Maguire (2016, p. 7) pointed out that the spread of liberal education has affected the tolerance of diversity and various taste patterns. Owing to globalization processes and increased social mobility, the division of people into social groups is no longer unambiguous, leading to a mix of tastes. At the same time, cultural abundance and its wide availability due to the development of new media channels have democratized access to heterogeneous cultural products (Smith Maguire 2016, p. 7).

Omnivorous research has largely considered tastes as going beyond traditional labels of cultural products. Savage and Gayo (2011) demonstrated that traditional boundaries have blurred, resulting in the fluidity of well-known taste categories such as music genres. Based on multiple correspondence analyses on likes and dislikes per (i) musical genre (categories) and (ii) certain songs (compositions linked to a particular genre) in Britain, scholars found that original classical genres can load on the same factor as popular songs, whereas distinct compositions labeled to be classical can at the same time be located on the opposite side of this factor (Savage and Gayo 2011, p. 344). They highlighted the comprehensive structure of omnivorous preferences, where various groups can be distinguished based on a combination of (dis-)likes, e.g., classically omnivore and pop-voracious patterns (Savage and Gayo 2011, p. 349). Johnston et al. (2019, p. 365) expanded these findings and argued that symbolic boundaries in cultural taste can be studied not only between genres or classification categories but also within them to identify operating legitimacy principles.

2.2 The German Context

The lack of consistency in the conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement of cultural omnivorousness (Hazır and Warde 2015; Peterson 2005) has led to difficulties in comparing the results of different international studies. Scholars have studied cultural omnivorousness in different cultural fields (e.g., music taste, general cultural practices in free time), using different operationalization strategies (e.g., the number of taste, composition of taste, memberships in latent classes) and different dimensions (emotional, behavioral, knowledgeable) (see Hazır and Warde 2015, pp. 80–85).

Research in Germany is no exception, as mixed procedures have been implemented, yielding inconsistent results. One of the first studies conducted by Neuhoff (2001) using a selective sample found that traditionally highbrow music fans showed limited preferences for popular genres compared with other groups. This finding challenged the cross-cultural transferability of the Omnivore-Univore Thesis. Further research examined differences in omnivorousness on the macro level, arguing that certain countries could be classified as being more or less prone to developing omnivorous taste (Lizardo 2006). Furthermore, high economic development (which Germany has), measured by a relatively high gross domestic product per person, marks a higher likelihood of developing cultural omnivorousness on a macro level.

Later Katz-Gerro (2002) conducted a comparative study on highbrow cultural consumption predictors using data from Italy, Israel, Sweden, the United States, and West Germany. To define the highbrow segment, they performed a factor analysis to estimate the corresponding consumption category in each country and used the index as a measure of highbrow consumption. The results for West Germany revealed a strong positive effect of education on highbrow consumption. However, regarding class differences, they showed only a distinction at the bottom of the social stratification between working class and others (Katz-Gerro 2002, p. 220 ff.). Thus, the study provided empirical support for the homology relationship between high social position and the corresponding cultural practices to some degree. However, it considered neither the metric invariance of latent factors nor the different contribution of items to the corresponding dimensions, which could negatively affect the reliability and validity of findings.

Relying on survey data from 1997, Otte (2009) showed empirically that people with a high-school diploma in Germany tend to be slightly more omnivorous in terms of liking more music genres than respondents with lower qualifications. Even though the difference in taste played only a minor role, this finding provided an initial insight into a trend toward cultural omnivorousness at the end of the twentieth century. Building on previous findings, Elvers et al. (2015) explored omnivorous patterns in the musical tastes of musicology students and highlighted exposure to diverse music as an influential factor that can stimulate individuals to develop different music styles. A later study by Sarkhosh and Menninghaus (2016) that investigated the profiles of trash movie lovers also identified omnivore characteristics in a well-educated audience.

A recent study by Kunißen et al. (2018) on a representative nationwide sample contributed fundamentally to research on omnivorous taste in Germany. It examined the relationship of cultural omnivorousness with educational attainment and tested four different strategies for operationalizing omnivorous taste. The results showed that the relations of omnivorousness with education differed depending on the method of measurement but, at the same time, significant positive relationships were found universally, supporting the basic tenets of the Omnivore-Univore Thesis (Kunißen et al. 2018, p. 229).

2.3 Relationships with Values

On an individual level, an increase in cultural omnivorousness is mainly attributed to higher tolerance and a change in value priorities (Peterson and Kern 1996), as introduced by Inglehart (1971, 1990). Focusing on values as dynamic constructs, Inglehart argued that there has been a nonlinear move from preferences for survival and traditional goals (materialism) to preferences for the quality of life, such as self-expression and secular-rational goals (postmaterialism) (Inglehart 1990, pp. 67–68, 1997, pp. 33–34). The driving force behind the change can be broken down into three aspects: 1) survival needs, which are taken for granted (known as the scarcity hypothesis); 2) the new socio-economic environment for the socialization of new generations (the socialization hypothesis); 3) an intergenerational process, which drives gradual change (Inglehart 1990, p. 67 ff.). Despite the widespread critical assessments of the theoretical arguments (e.g., Abramson 2011; Flanagan 22,23,a, b), value change theory is used in modern research to estimate the shift from modernization to postmodernization within and between societies (Inglehart 2018; Inglehart and Welzel 2005).

A higher position in the social structure in terms of education, occupation, and other characteristics gives individuals the required security, enables them to realize survival needs, and serves as a proxy of their social status during their formative years. It leads to the fulfillment of the scarcity hypothesis and a potential change from materialist to postmaterialist values on an individual level (Nový et al. 2017). In turn, postmaterialism tends to be accompanied by greater tolerance (Peterson and Kern 1996), which can be reflected by a lower social distance toward a diverse cultural repertoire and increased cultural omnivorousness. Hence, an individual’s position in the social structure is expected to have a positive indirect effect on cultural omnivorousness via postmaterialist values. It is hypothesized that:

H 1

A higher position in the social stratification implies higher postmaterialist values, which lead to greater cultural omnivorousness.

Examining the coherence of the Omnivore-Univore Thesis, Warde and Gayo-Cal (2009, p. 129) highlighted that educational characteristics can be more important than other occupational or status categories. In line with Bourdieu’s ideas, individual education as an institutionalized form of cultural capital “comes to be seen as a guarantee of the capacity to adopt the aesthetic dispositions” (Bourdieu 2010, p. 20) and contributes to reproducing social divisions and symbolic distinctions (Bourdieu 1986, 2010). Similarly, educational institutions play a significant role in creating legitimate culture. Further studies have supported the premise that omnivorous taste articulates educational aspects (Coulangeon and Roharik 2005, p. 19). The subsequent theoretical development of the omnivore argument highlighted the greater importance of education in the development of omnivorous taste both within and between genres (Lizardo and Skiles 2012, pp. 269–270). At the same time, differences in income and occupational prestige can be viewed as an outcome of educational attainment. Therefore, differences in cultural omnivorousness are assumed to be primarily determined by different educational groups, whereas differences in occupational characteristics play a secondary role:

H 2

The explanatory power of educational attainment for cultural omnivorousness is greater than that of occupational characteristics.

The proportion of mediation can differ between the indicators of position in the social stratification. The revision of the scarcity hypothesis assumed that one of the main drivers of postmaterialistic values on an individual level is a personal feeling of existential security that stems from socio-economic status (Nový et al. 2017). In economically developed countries such as Germany, the effect of education on postmaterialism was found to be the strongest compared with other less rich countries (Nový et al. 2017, p. 695). As stated by Inglehart (1977, pp. 72–75), a higher level of education is likely to be accompanied by greater security in the family in the formative years (higher position of parents in the social structure) as well as by general cognitive development and informal communication patterns. In an initial empirical analysis, Inglehart (1977, pp. 74–75) expected and found a postmaterialist value type to be more strongly associated with educational than with occupational characteristics.

Regarding relationships with values, educational institutions engage in transmitting and developing the values of the modern democratic world and postmaterialism, so that people with a higher level of education are more likely to cultivate such values. Speaking about its role in cultural omnivorousness, it is mainly personal and parental education that creates special circumstances that foster cultural tolerance and omnivorous taste (Lizardo and Skiles 2012). Therefore, values are expected to mediate a higher proportion of the relationships between education and cultural omnivorousness in contrast to the role of occupational characteristics:

H 3

The proportion of mediation through values is higher for the relationship between educational attainment and cultural omnivorousness than for the relationship between occupational characteristics and cultural omnivorousness.

As a counter-argument to H 3, a personal feeling of security can also be linked to various other macro- and individual-level factors, e.g., a country’s socio-economic development, occupational security, experience during formative years, social integration, other social background- and context-related causes (Inglehart 1977, pp. 72–98; Nový et al. 2017, pp. 685–689).

Besides, omnivorous taste evolves across the life course. It has been established that the level of omnivorousness differs between gender and age categories. Women (Purhonen et al. 2010) and middle-aged people (Ma 2021; Warde et al. 2008) are more likely to develop wide tastes. A broad repertoire of tastes evolves over an age-graded trajectory, reaching the highest level in the mid to late stages of adulthood, with taste acquisition slowing down after that (Ma 2021). Hence, gender and age are used for control purposes in this study.

Generally, empirical studies of omnivorousness in taste have yielded both complementary and competing evidence from a cross-cultural perspective. Some research has supported the working functionality of the Omnivore-Univore Thesis, with some modifications owing to different cultural frameworks (e.g., Chan and Goldthorpe 2007; García-Álvarez et al. 2007; Peterson and Kern 1996; Purhonen et al. 2010; Warde and Gayo-Cal 2009), whereas others have contested the role of cultural omnivorousness and (partly) supported the existence of homologous relationships between taste and positions in the social structure (e.g., Atkinson 2011; Rossman and Peterson 2015; Tampubolon 2008). Recently, Brisson (2019) provided a rich amount of criticism of the original findings of Peterson, referring to the biased selection of cultural items, low reliability of data, and untrustworthy criteria used to capture the crossing of symbolic boundaries. Later, Villarroya and Llopis-Goig (2021) conducted studies on cultural participation and social profiles in Spain, arguing that diverse logics of social differentiation can operate simultaneously and that the Omnivore-Univore Thesis, therefore, needs to be revised considerably. Finally, Nault et al. (2021) explored omnivorousness on two levels—between and within music genres—and identified the middle-status positions of omnivores and exclusiveness in the taste of upper-status positions in the social structure. The ambiguous and debatable findings yielded by recent studies suggest that it makes sense to return to the original publications and pay special attention to the empirical study of the factors that theoretically influence the emergence of more omnivorous dispositions among upper segments of people. This study explores the role of values in explaining omnivorous taste.

3 Data, Operationalization, and Methods

3.1 Data

This research draws on cross-sectional data from the ALLBUS 2014 (GESIS-Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften 2017, 26,25,b, a), a representative survey of adults in Germany, in which a new section was included to measure musical preferences. In addition, respondents were asked to provide information on their income, education, occupation, self-assigned social class, gender, age, and value priorities (postmaterialist values, Inglehart index).

To test the hypotheses, certain sampling restrictions were set. First, all respondents were selected who had specified their educational background, income, self-assigned class, present or last occupation that could be classified using the occupational prestige scale. For income variable, 217 cases with no answer were identified, 189—with no income; for self-assigned class: 32 cases refused to select, 14 did not know, 4 provided no answer, and 28 selected none of the categories; for education level: 20 cases were still at school, 5 had no classifiable education level; for occupational prestige: 323 cases were not applicable or not classifiable. In total, 685 observations were removed from the sample at this point. Additionally, respondents with an extremely high net income of more than 10,000 euros per month were excluded from the analysis (three observations). They were considered as outliers, which significantly differed from other observations and changed the overall pattern. After implied restrictions, the sample was nearly complete, with only 27 missing per other variables (postmaterialist index and age). Thus, the final analytical sample for the analysis used listwise deletion and consisted of 2756 respondents out of 3471 observations.

3.2 Operationalization

3.2.1 Dependent Variable

Cultural omnivorousness: There is no consensus on the operationalization of cultural omnivorousness (Villarroya and Llopis-Goig 2021; Brisson 2019; Hazır and Warde 2015). Research tends to use different approaches and measures the concept by: (i) aggregating preferences/dislikes/frequent cultural practices (e.g., García-Álvarez et al. 2007; Rossman and Peterson 2015); (ii) constructing the composition of preferences that cross cultural boundaries (e.g., Kwon and Kwon 2013; Warde and Gayo-Cal 2009); (iii) defining a latent class of omnivores who show the highest probability of liking a wider range of cultural items (e.g., Coulangeon 2013; Vander Stichele and Laermans 2006). Additionally, operationalization can be performed within a single cultural domain (e.g., Rossman and Peterson 2015) or across different cultural fields (Warde et al. 2007). However, theoretical contributions have called for the capturing of dispositions that show an affective response toward pluralism in culture, following the arguments of Lizardo and Skiles (2012) and Smith Maguire (2015, 2016).

Empirical studies have primarily concentrated on the cultural domain of music (e.g., Peterson and Kern 1996; Peterson and Simkus 1992), as music marks social distinctions and is the most widely accessed cultural field. Furthermore, the decision to focus on music stems from Bourdieu’s statement that “nothing more clearly affirms one’s ‘class,’ nothing more infallibly classifies, than tastes in music” (Bourdieu 2010, p. 10). Therefore, Bourdieu examined musical preferences as social indicators representing and forming positions in the social structure based on certain capitals (Bourdieu 1986, 1990, 2010).

To provide a comprehensive view and, at the same time, facilitate replication and allow better comparability of findings with future studies, two measures of omnivorousness by number were used. These measures were described by Kunißen et al. (2018) as summative indexes for preferred and disliked music tastes. First, in line with the most popular and convenient solution (e.g., de Vries and Reeves 2020; Ma 2021), this study used a scale of cultural omnivorousness that involves counting the number of liked or strongly liked musical genres (label: CO_like). This measure is known as omnivorousness by number, the breadth of taste, or more straightforwardly as the index of omnivorousness (Lizardo 2018). The survey measured preferences for 12 distinct music genres on a five-point Likert scale. The relatively high variety of proposed genres and the scale’s ability to assess the modality of tastes are assumed to allow the diversity of omnivorous dispositions to be captured. Second, to account for diversity of taste, disliked music was considered (Ackermann and Merrill 2022)—omnivorousness was measured as the number of dislikes and strong dislikes of the same music genres (CO_dislike). These two indicators are assumed, to a certain degree, to reflect the level of cultural omnivorousness, which can be considered a latent dimension (CO). A limitation of this approach was that the measurement captured the breadth of tastes instead of their composition and variability. However, the range of musical categories covered was quite extensive, which allowed the diversity of taste to be captured simultaneously based on its number.

The ALLBUS questionnaire included a question on musical preferences that was worded as follows (English translation): “I’m going to read out a list of different kinds of music. Using the card, please tell me how much you like listening to each kind of music: (A) Traditional German folk music, (B) Traditional folk music from other cultures, (C) German pop music (‘Schlager’), (D) Pop music and today’s charts music (E) Rock music, (F) Heavy metal, (G) Electronic music, like house, techno, electro, (H) Hip hop, soul, reggae, (J) Classical music, (K) Opera, (L) Musicals, (M) Jazz” (GESIS-Leibniz-Institut Für Sozialwissenschaften 2017, p. 9). The scale consisted of five categories: 1) I very much like listening to it, 2) I like listening to it, 3) I neither like nor dislike listening to it, 4) I dislike listening to it, 5) I very much dislike listening to it (GESIS-Leibniz-Institut Für Sozialwissenschaften 2017, p. 9).

3.2.2 Independent Variables: Position in the Social Stratification

To account for the complexity of evaluating positions in the social stratification, the measurement combined education and occupational data and used both objective and subjective indicators of socio-economic status and social class. The objective indicators consisted of three aspects: (i) personal net monthly income, (ii) education attainment, and (iii) prestige of the occupation. If the current occupation was not reported or available (for example, owing to retirement), information on the last occupation was used. The self-assigned social class was also used to determine the subjective indicator.

Income (income) was measured based on the absolute value in euros using the post-coded answers to the open question “How high is your OWN net monthly income? By this I mean the amount remaining after deductions for tax and social security contributions” (GESIS-Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften 2017, p. 67).

Education attainment (education) was defined as the highest level achieved so far following the International Standard Classification of Education. The categories are: 1) Primary education, 2) Lower secondary, 3) Upper secondary, 4) Post secondary, 5) Short-cycle tertiary, 6) Bachelor level, 7) Master level, and 8) Doctoral level (UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2012).

To construct the occupational prestige metric (siops), answers to the open-ended question “What work do you do in your main job? Does this job, this work have a special name?” were coded following the Standard Occupational Prestige scale (SIOPS) by data providers. The occupational prestige metric ranges from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest). If the individual did not have a current occupation or no score was available for it, a score for the last employment was used.

The self-assigned social class (self-class) was measured using a five-point scale: “There is a lot of talk about social class these days. What class would you describe yourself as belonging to?” with the categories: 1) Lower class, 2) Working class, 3) Middle class, 4) Upper middle class, and 5) Upper class (GESIS-Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften 2017, p. 27).

3.2.3 Mediator: Postmaterialist Values, Inglehart Index

The respondents were asked to rank four political goals (“In politics too one can’t have everything at once. On this card are four goals which can be pursued in politics. If you had to choose between these different goals, which one would seem to you personally to be the most important?” Then the respondent was required to specify the second, third, and fourth places): a) To maintain law and order in this country, b) To give citizens more influence on government decisions, c) To fight rising prices, and d) To protect the right of freedom of speech (GESIS-Leibniz-Institut Für Sozialwissenschaften 2017, 2018b). The first and third options are related to materialistic values, whereas the second and fourth are related to postmaterialist orientations (Inglehart 1990; Inglehart and Welzel 2005).

Based on the combinations of answers, a four-point materialist-postmaterialist value orientation index (postmat) is calculated with these items: 4) Postmaterialists (if the first and the second goals are postmaterialist), 3) Postmaterialists mixed (if the first goal is postmaterialist, but the second is materialist), 2) Materialists mixed (if the first goal is materialist, but the second is postmaterialist) 1) Materialists (if the first and the second goals are materialist) (GESIS-Leibniz-Institut Für Sozialwissenschaften 26,25,b, a, pp. 230–231).

3.2.4 Control Variables

Based on previous research, the relevant variables for control purposes when examining cultural omnivorousness on the individual level are: (i) gender, (ii) age, and (iii) age squared to check for curvilinear relationships.

3.3 Methods

Cultural omnivorousness was measured as a reflective latent factor (construct) with two indicators: the number of preferences and the number of dislikes (rotated). In the reflective model, indicators are assumed to have reflective relations with each other and be explained by the latent construct (Borsboom et al. 2003, p. 208). From a technical perspective, “the paths relating the indicators to the factor (factor loadings) emanate from the latent variable to the indicator” (Brown 2006, p. 351). The position in the social stratification, in turn, was modeled as a formative latent factor (Roberts and Thatcher 2009) as it was constructed based on four leading indicators that capture different dimensions of social positionsFootnote 1: education attainment, income, occupational prestige, and, to some degree, self-assessed class. In this case, indicators are assumed to be of a formative nature and be indicators of the latent factor (Borsboom et al. 2003, p. 208), i.e., “the direction of causality is from the observed measures to the construct” (Brown 2006, p. 351).

Data preparation and cleaning as well as the descriptive analysis were conducted using Stata 17 software (StataCorp 2021). To test the indirect effects and construct latent factors, a mediation analysis with structural equation modeling in Mplus was performed (Muthén and Muthén 2017). A robust maximum likelihood estimator was used to address the skewness of variables (Li 2016). This approach allows testing of complex relationships, including both direct and indirect effects. Metric and skewed variables such as income and occupational prestige were log-transformed. Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker–Lewis index (TLI), and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) model fit statistics were considered (Iacobucci 2010). To analyze additional sensitivity, all models were re-estimated using a bootstrapping method with a maximum likelihood estimator (Memon et al. 2018).

4 Results

4.1 Descriptive Statistics for Two Cultural Omnivorousness Measures

The average value for the number of likes in the sample was 4.53, with a standard deviation of 2.02. The number of liked musical genres ranged from 0 to 12. The first quartile selected 0 to 3 items, whereas the fourth selected 6 to 12 categories. The distribution was slightly right-skewed (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Distribution of cultural omnivorousness indicators (N = 2756)

Full size image

Regarding the number of dislikes, the mean value was 5.13, with a standard deviation of 2.40. The values summarizing the number of disliked and strongly disliked music genres also ranged from 0 to 12. The first quartile disliked 0 to 3 items, whereas the fourth quartile disliked 7 to 12 categories (Fig. 1). The correlation coefficient between the two measures of omnivorousness was −0.65 (p < 0.001), indicating a strong negative relationship.

4.2 Differences in Cultural Omnivorousness Among Social Groups

The descriptive analysis (Appendix A, Table A1 and A2) showed a considerable difference in the two scores of omnivorousness between socio-demographic groups. The mean number of likes was higher (and the number of disliked genres was lower) for relatively educated respondents (Bachelor level) than for respondents with lower educational attainment. Similarly, respondents with a higher income, higher occupational prestige, and higher self-assigned class reported a higher number of likes and a lower number of dislikes for music. It was striking, however, that respondents with a master education level or a doctoral degree reported lower numbers of likes and higher numbers of dislikes. There are many potential explanations for this result. It can, to a certain extent, be attributed to the aging effect (the achievement of the highest educational level requires considerable time) and/or to a high exclusivity of taste among upper segments, as found in a recent study by Nault et al. (2021).

Regarding the role of individual values, postmaterialists tended to like more and dislike fewer musical genres than (mixed-)materialists. Simultaneously, people with a higher education level as well as a higher income, higher occupational prestige, and higher self-assigned class had higher postmaterialist values (except for respondents with a doctoral degree) (Appendix A, Table A3).

Additionally, the descriptives by gender and age group supported prior findings. A higher number of women were cultural omnivores than men, and middle-aged adults reported a higher number of tastes than younger and older respondents.

4.3 Correlation Analysis

The correlation analysis showed that variables measuring the level of education, income, occupational prestige and self-assigned class correlate positively with the number of likes and negatively with the number of dislikes (Table 1). All coefficients were found to be significant, at least at p < 0.05, but the correlations were stronger with the number of dislikes rather than with the number of likes. The postmaterialist index was significantly related to both two cultural omnivorousness measures and social indicators. Indicators of social stratification also correlated positively with each other. The further analysis assumed a positive complementary relationship of social position indicators and investigated the associations with values and cultural omnivorousness.

Table 1 Correlation matrix of dependent and independent variables of interest (N = 2756)
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4.4 Relationships Between Latent Factors of Position in the Social Structure and Cultural Omnivorousness

To begin with, this first model (Fig. 2) considered the direct effect of social position (as a formative latent factor with four indicators) on cultural omnivorousness (as a reflective latent construct with two indicators). The omega reliability measure (Deng and Chan 2017; Hayes and Coutts 2020; McDonald 2011) for cultural omnivorousness was 0.773, which showed good internal consistency. The results were consistent with the central assumption of the Omnivore-Univore Thesis (Peterson and Kern 1996) and revealed the positive effect of social position on cultural omnivorousness. A higher social position in terms of education, income, occupational prestige, and self-assigned social class was related to higher cultural omnivorousness. The effect of social position explained 6.9% of the variance in cultural omnivorousness.

Fig. 2
figure 2

Model 1. The direct effect of social position on cultural omnivorousness, standardized coefficients, N = 2756. (Model fit: RMSEA = 0.034, CFI = 0.992, TLI = 0.982, SRMR = 0.020. R2 for cultural omnivorousness: 6.9%. Residuals for “CO_dislike” were set to zero because of its insignificance)

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4.5 Direct and Indirect Effects of Social Position on Cultural Omnivorousness (H 1)

Testing H 1, Model 2 (Fig. 3) demonstrated that postmaterialist values partially mediated the positive effect of social position. The mediation proportion was found to be 8.4% with an indirect effect of 0.008 (p < 0.001) and standardized coefficient of 0.022 (p < 0.001). In other words, a higher position in the social structure implied a greater likelihood of showing postmaterialist values, which led to greater cultural omnivorousness. These findings suggest that values not only have social origins but are also associated with omnivorous taste patterns, i.e., postmaterialists were more likely to report extensive music tastes than materialists.

Fig. 3
figure 3

Model 2: The direct and indirect effects of social position on cultural omnivorousness (without control variables), standardized coefficients, N = 2756. (Model fit: RMSEA = 0.031, CFI = 0.988, TLI = 0.978, SRMR = 0.020. R2 for cultural omnivorousness: 8.2%. Residuals for “CO_dislike” were set to zero because of its insignificance)

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Model 3 (Fig. 4) built on the previous model by including a control for gender (female) and the nonlinear effect of age. Age was divided by 10 to comply with the maximum allowed variance value. Thus, a certain coefficient indicated a change in the dependent variable when age increased by 10 years (one scale point). The inclusion of control variables in the model decreased the effect of social position mediated by values, but the effect remained statistically significant (with alpha level 0.05), which aligns with H 1. The mediation proportion by values was found to be 6.4%, whereas the current indirect effect was equal to 0.005 (p < 0.001) and the standardized coefficient 0.017 (p < 0.001). The changes occurred as a result of the indirect non-linear effect of age on cultural omnivorousness through values.

Fig. 4
figure 4

Model 3: The direct and indirect effects of social position on cultural omnivorousness (with control variables), standardized coefficients, N = 2756. (Model fit: RMSEA = 0.046, CFI = 0.967, TLI = 0.929, SRMR = 0.027. R2 for cultural omnivorousness: 10.7%. Residuals for “CO_dislike” were set to zero because of its insignificance. age2 squared values of age)

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As verification of the robustness of the findings, all results were supported by similar models with bootstrapping confidence intervals and a maximum likelihood estimator (Appendix B, Table B1).

4.6 Direct and Indirect Effects of the Indicators of Social Position on Cultural Omnivorousness (H 2 and H 3)

To analyze the individual effects of the indicators of social position, the last model was reproduced using only one indicator of social position per model: model a) education, b) income, c) occupational prestige, and d) self-assigned class. The first results supported the important role of all indicators in the manifestation of cultural omnivorousness (Table 2). A higher income, education, prestige of occupation, and self-assigned class were associated with a wider taste, with direct standardized effects ranging from 0.150 to 0.195 (p < 0.001). Second, evidence was found that postmaterialism mediated relationships between the indicators of social position and cultural omnivorousness in all models. The coefficients of determination ranged between 7.2% (for income) to 9.1% (for self-class). In contrast to our expectations, the explanatory power of educational attainment for cultural omnivorousness was not greater than that of occupational prestige (contradicts H 2).

Table 2 Direct and indirect effects of separate indicators of social position on cultural omnivorousness (with control variables) (N = 2756)
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The mediation proportion by values ranged from 6.2% (for self-assigned class) to 8.1% (for occupational prestige). Finally, although the mediation coefficient was expected to be much higher for educational attainment than for models with occupational aspects (H 3), the results suggested that values mediated approximately the same proportion of effects of education, income, and occupational prestige on cultural omnivorousness.

5 Discussion and Conclusion

Even though the development of cultural omnivorousness is largely attributed to changes in values, the potential role of postmaterialist individual values in the relationship between social position and cultural omnivorousness has remained unknown to date. This research was aimed at expanding the Omnivore-Univore Thesis by investigating the indirect effects of postmaterialist values in Germany. By performing mediation analyses in structural equation modeling, importantly, this study supported partial mediation, suggesting that postmaterialist values have considerable explanatory power in relationships between social position and omnivorous taste. This gives rise to a complex discussion about the potential influence of different value factors that shape the diversity of taste.

The Omnivore-Univore Thesis does not necessarily serve as a counter-argument to Bourdieu’s (2010) homologous social patterning of taste. Instead, as noted by Coulangeon (2005, p. 147), cultural omnivorousness can represent an addition to the homology argument—a relatively new cultural dimension. Previous studies have shown that omnivorous patterns can play different roles and manifest in different ways. This paper showed that omnivorous taste is more than just a marker of position in the social structure and can also be driven, formulated, and reflected by individuals’ beliefs and values. There is therefore a need to consider other factors when examining such relationships in contemporary research. Moreover, as values function not only at the individual level but also at the macro level, this may help to explain why the findings of previous studies on cultural omnivorousness have been contradictory across countries.

Simultaneously, the findings of this study do not corroborate the findings of previous research that has highlighted the more important role of education (as a better proxy for experience during formative years and an important part of cultural capital) than occupational characteristics. In this study, the importance of occupational characteristics (i.e., occupational prestige) was found to be relatively similar to that of educational characteristics. Cultural omnivorousness has a tendency to be connected to different markers of social position. Thus, a multi-dimensional approach should be applied to investigate such relationships in future studies.

Generally, this study has several advantages. First, instead of focusing on one indicator of cultural omnivorousness, this paper combined the number of tastes and dislikes and used them as an indicator of the manifestation of a latent factor. In future research, the factor could be extended by including other indicators, e.g., consideration of omnivorousness as the crossing of symbolic boundaries. This would make it possible to measure omnivorousness from different angles and to take into account the different importance (loadings) of indicators for the concept. However, attention should be paid to testing measurement invariance for cross-cultural research (for the discussion, see Davidov et al. 2018; Meitinger et al. 2020). Second, this study considered four different indicators to build a formative latent factor to allow a comprehensive measurement of social positions that reflect the nature of the indicators used. Such an approach makes it possible to evaluate complex effects with greater reliability. Additionally, analysis with a robust maximum likelihood estimator led to greater robustness of findings.

As for potential limitations, this study used only conservative indicators of cultural omnivorousness, which captured the number of tastes and not their composition (Hazır and Warde 2015, pp. 80–85). This could lead to the overestimation of the omnivorousness level of people with a high number and low diversity of tastes. Also, owing to the focus of this study, the analysis was performed only within one cultural field—music—and did not cover others (e.g., literature, cinematography). Even though previous studies have reported a complementary relationship between omnivorousness across cultural fields (Purhonen et al. 2010), the role of values still might vary across different fields. In addition, from a broad perspective, this study concentrated only on emotional responses to music and did not cover behavioral patterns and knowledge factors.

Regarding methodical aspects, this study had several limitations. First, the subjective aspect of social position, self-assigned class, was treated as the cause of one’s social position, although this indicator could have a more reflective nature. Self-identification with a certain class deviates from objective indicators such as income or educational attainment. However, in order to cover both subjective and objective indicators, in this study it was assumed that self-identification with a class contributes to one’s social position and can be used as a measure of it rather than as a reflection of it. Second, to allow identification of the model with the formative latent factor, the residual error had to be fixed to zero. This resulted in a loss of the error term that can also be considered as an exclusion of the disturbance term—the one “uncorrelated with the observed measures but which impacts on the latent variable” (Diamantopoulos 2006, p. 9). This led to the basic assumption that only the variables used (income, occupational prestige, education, and self-assigned social class)—and no additional significant causes—could be specified to capture one’s social position in terms of socio-economic status.

The findings point toward several encouraging paths for future studies. The further investigation of the role of various value dimensions as mediators and their role in explaining contrasting results from a cross-cultural perspective could broaden the horizons of omnivore studies. As the studies of cultural omnivorousness have been “consistently inconsistent,” a return to the origins of the concept could allow a more thoughtful investigation.