Moral Distinction: Religion, musical taste and the moral cultural consumer

Abstract

This study examines the impact of religious identity and religious practice on musical taste preferences. Extant research on cultural consumption and musical preferences in sociology is overwhelmingly concerned with stratification perspectives emphasising the class-based forms of cultural and social distinction. Using nationally representative data, findings indicate that religious identity and religious practice make a considerable impact on the musical taste preferences of Australians. Two key patterns evidencing the religious impact on musical cultural consumption are presented here: (1) strong denominational differences in musical preferences between various Christian groups and the non-religious, and (2) a marked separation of musical preferences between those who demonstrate a high level of religiosity and those who do not, controlling for a range of social background factors. The findings expand on the insights of stratification-based analyses associated with this field through what I contend to be a neglected moral dimension to cultural consumption and the emergence of a moral cultural consumer. Finally, the work exemplifies, in a novel way, the continuing relevance of sites of religious identification and practice in secular contexts of late modernity in the West.