Cultural omnivorousness of young people in Japan, South Korea, and the United States—using latent class analysis

Abstract

In this study, we examine the relationship between young people's musical tastes and demographic variables using data from an international comparative survey of Japan, South Korea, and the United States (US). A feature of this study is the analysis of the characteristics of cultural omnivorousness in each country and the factors that determine it. Most studies of cultural omnivorousness have focused on the West. This study's analysis of Japan and South Korea provides valuable insights. The results show that, first, the symbolic boundary separating omnivores from univores in each country is rock and urban in Japan, anime songs and rock in South Korea, and anime songs and K-pop in the US. In general, there is a preference for genres that are removed from the musical culture of one's own country; when this is the case, omnivorousness has an affinity with a cosmopolitan orientation. Second, in Japan, South Korea, and the US, people who like a wide variety of music genres tend to be more confident in their own musical tastes. This suggests that omnivores are not culturally tolerant. In other words, the omnivore selects music with a distinctive aesthetic sense that seems to be consistent with the characteristics of emerging cultural capital. Third, in terms of the factors that define cultural omnivorousness, socioeconomic factors such as father's educational background and living arrangements have an influence in South Korea and the US, but no such influence is confirmed in Japan. This trend may be specific to young people in Japan.