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Musical taste and ageing
Author(s)Jill Harrison, John Ryan
Journal titleAgeing and Society, vol 30, part 4, May 2010
Pagespp 649-669
Sourcehttp://www.journals.cambridge.org/aso doi:10.1017/S0144686X09990778
KeywordsMusic ; Cultural activities ; Participation ; Attitude ; Cross sectional surveys ; United States of America.
AnnotationThe purpose of this study was to explore musical taste patterns in old age. Having musical tastes, defined as individual preferences for certain musical genres, has been theorised as being a relational tool, something that can be used to negotiate social situations and interpersonal exchanges with others. Taste not only helps to make sense out of the endless array of products available on the cultural menu, but is also through consumption and display a way of signaling group membership, social location, identity and self. These concepts are important throughout the life-course, yet relatively unexplored in later life. What are the taste patterns of older adults and how do they compare to the musical preferences of other age groups? To answer these questions, the authors analysed data from the United States national Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA), a repeated cross-sectional survey, for the years 1982, 1992 and 2002. In each year, musical tastes displayed a positive relationship with age up to 55 years of age. The results indicate that across the three survey years, at older ages there was a negative relationship between tastes and age. The authors offer explanations for these results, using theories from the sociology of culture and social gerontology. (KJ/RH).
Accession NumberCPA-100422205 A
ClassmarkHH: H4: TMB: DP: 3KB: 7T

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