Reading attitude and its effect on leisure time reading

Abstract

Empirical cultural participation studies show that socio-demographic variables that are indicative for social class can explain differences in cultural participation, for example reading behavior. However, Bourdieu's theory on cultural capital suggests that social class is only indirectly linked to cultural participation since shared experiences associated with particular class positions are shaped into enduring dispositions that generate consistent cultural behavior. This study focuses on the direct effect of these enduring dispositions on reading works of fiction in leisure time. The enduring dispositions are conceptualized and operationalized by means of the attitude towards ‘reading fiction’. The research question regards the effect of reading attitude on reading behavior given controls for the variables gender, income, educational level, age, and amount of spare time. To investigate this question, a convenience sample (n = 185), consisting of rather frequent fiction readers, was asked to fill out a questionnaire. Reading attitude was operationalized by twenty-four Likert items referring to the consequences or functions of reading fiction. Based on reliability and factor analyses, three functions of reading were identified as separate aspects of reading attitude: enjoyment, escape, and development/utility. Regression analyses showed that reading attitude positively affects reading behavior, when the socio-demographic variables, and the amount of spare time are controlled for. The effect of reading attitude on reading behavior is mainly attributable to the effect of the enjoyment aspect.