"Univores," the largest of the four groups, consume great quantities of pop culture – TV, pop music and Hollywood flicks – and little else. "But there are no truly popular forms in the visual arts that have as wide a media exposure as does pop music," says Goldthorpe. Tak Wing Chan was his colleague in the study for the Economic and Social Research Council in England.
"Omnivores," the next biggest group, includes people who go to the ballet, symphony or opera on occasion while still buying lots of pop culture.
For purposes of the study, cultural consumption was split into three basic categories: theatre, dance and the movies; music of all sorts; and the visual arts.
Only "Paucivores," a decidedly small group, may be found at a blockbuster museum opening. But that's about the extent of it. Paucivores don't care much for contemporary art.
The "Inactives," are the Goldthorpe-Chan version of couch potatoes, hunkered down in front of the television day and night. They're found in every culture. Along with the U.K., data was assembled in France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Israel, Chile and the United States and analyzed by 13 researchers.
The Paucivores are the most frightening to me. More so than the couch potatoes. Those are the people who don't watch TV, don't read books, don't go to the movies. Basically don't do anything unless they're dragged into it.
But the real consequence of all this is understanding that good taste does not come from good breeding, nor is it a talent, something innate in you that you have learned and developed over time. It is a consumer product. Your taste in movies or music or art does not reflect your super cool personality. Its just another reflection of your income tax bracket.
