Distinction by consumption in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the Netherlands

Abstract

In this paper I investigate the impact of educational heterogamy on culture consumption and the impact of both educational heterogamy and status inconsistency on material consumption. Data from the 1986 TARKI Survey on Social Stratification in Hungary, the 1984 Social and Class Structure Survey of Czechoslovakia, and the Dutch 1977 Life Situation Survey are analyzed. Several hypotheses are tested employing diagonal reference models including covariates. The analysis of culture consumption shows that most variance is captured by a 'status maximization model' for Czechoslovakia and Hungary. This model assumes that the partner with the higher education has the strongest impact. The Dutch data show a pattern which contradicts such an effect, i.e. if the education of the respondent is at a lower level than that of the spouse, the former's education prevails. The analysis of material life-styles shows that for the Dutch data there is a male-dominance effect. There is no such effect in the two East European countries. Additionally, using a new design for detecting statusinconsistency effects, several such effects for the Netherlands and Hungary become apparent. For the Netherlands under-rewarded couples in general (those with low income and relatively high education) tend to have an extra low level of material consumption and over-rewarded couples (those with high income and relatively low education) tend to have an extra high level of material consumption. For Hungary this inconsistency effect becomes even stronger the more status-inconsistent couples are. For Czechoslovakia no inconsistency effect could be detected.