The Relationship between Class and Reading: An Examination of the Cultural Omnivore Hypothesis

Abstract

The relationship between socio-economic status (SES), and breadth of book genre readership was tested utilizing Canadian secondary data. Grounded in the cultural omnivore hypothesis, higher levels of SES were expected to be associated with a greater breadth of book genre readership. In addition, it was expected that openness, centrality, and intrinsic motivation would mediate this relationship with higher SES being associated with higher levels of openness, centrality, and intrinsic motivation which in turn was expected to be associated with a larger breadth of book genre readership. In addition, grounded in the cultural omnivore literature the relationship between SES and the readership of the lowest of the lowbrow book genre was expected to be mediated by superiority. Namely, that higher SES was expected to be associated with higher superiority and a lower chance of reading the lowest of the lowbrow book genre. The results supported the expectations demonstrating the potential for the cultural omnivore hypothesis to inform the relationship between class and reading habits in addition, to centrality, intrinsic motivation, openness, and superiority’s ability to help explain the cultural omnivore.