School’s out forever? Heavy metal preferences and higher education
Hällsten, Martin ; Edling, Christofer LU
and Rydgren, Jens
(2019)
In PLoS ONE
- Abstract
- Objectives
Cultural behaviors are theoretically linked to future life chances but empirical literature is scant. We use heavy metal as an example of cultural identities due to its high salience. We first assess the social morphology of metal preferences in terms of socio-economic and socio-structural positions, and then asses the short term outcomes of being a heavy metal fan on education and health behaviors.
Methods
The analysis was based on a representative random stratified sample of 23-year-olds of native Swedish, Iranian, and Yugoslavian background in contemporary Sweden (n = 2,232). Linear probability models with multiple imputation were used to calculate preferences for metal music and the association of metal... (More) - Objectives
Cultural behaviors are theoretically linked to future life chances but empirical literature is scant. We use heavy metal as an example of cultural identities due to its high salience. We first assess the social morphology of metal preferences in terms of socio-economic and socio-structural positions, and then asses the short term outcomes of being a heavy metal fan on education and health behaviors.
Methods
The analysis was based on a representative random stratified sample of 23-year-olds of native Swedish, Iranian, and Yugoslavian background in contemporary Sweden (n = 2,232). Linear probability models with multiple imputation were used to calculate preferences for metal music and the association of metal preferences with subsequent outcomes.
Results
In contrast to many prior studies, we find that the preference for heavy metal is not structured by social background or neighborhood context in Swedish adolescents. Poor school grades tend to make them more prone to like metal, but net of previous grades, social background, personality, personal network, and neighborhood characteristics, metal fans have substantially lower transition rates into higher education.
Discussion
The study suggest that metal preferences appears rather unsystematically with few important predictors, and is linked to lower education attainments in the short run. While these findings are specific to heavy metal as a certain type of culture and to Swedish adolescents, we suggest that they are indicative of how cultural consumption may play a role for life-chances. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/e337675b-fab7-43ab-a48f-2f2ae76b4290
- author
- Hällsten, Martin
; Edling, Christofer
LU
and Rydgren, Jens
- organization
- publishing date
- 2019-03
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Higher education, Health behaviour, Cultural identity, Heavy Metal, Sweden
- in
- PLoS ONE
- article number
- e0213716
- publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85063272454
- pmid:30889202
- ISSN
- 1932-6203
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0213716
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- e337675b-fab7-43ab-a48f-2f2ae76b4290
- date added to LUP
- 2019-04-01 16:40:17
- date last changed
- 2022-03-25 17:11:02
@article{e337675b-fab7-43ab-a48f-2f2ae76b4290,
abstract = {{Objectives<br/>Cultural behaviors are theoretically linked to future life chances but empirical literature is scant. We use heavy metal as an example of cultural identities due to its high salience. We first assess the social morphology of metal preferences in terms of socio-economic and socio-structural positions, and then asses the short term outcomes of being a heavy metal fan on education and health behaviors.<br/><br/>Methods<br/>The analysis was based on a representative random stratified sample of 23-year-olds of native Swedish, Iranian, and Yugoslavian background in contemporary Sweden (n = 2,232). Linear probability models with multiple imputation were used to calculate preferences for metal music and the association of metal preferences with subsequent outcomes.<br/><br/>Results<br/>In contrast to many prior studies, we find that the preference for heavy metal is not structured by social background or neighborhood context in Swedish adolescents. Poor school grades tend to make them more prone to like metal, but net of previous grades, social background, personality, personal network, and neighborhood characteristics, metal fans have substantially lower transition rates into higher education.<br/><br/>Discussion<br/>The study suggest that metal preferences appears rather unsystematically with few important predictors, and is linked to lower education attainments in the short run. While these findings are specific to heavy metal as a certain type of culture and to Swedish adolescents, we suggest that they are indicative of how cultural consumption may play a role for life-chances.}},
author = {{Hällsten, Martin and Edling, Christofer and Rydgren, Jens}},
issn = {{1932-6203}},
keywords = {{Higher education; Health behaviour; Cultural identity; Heavy Metal; Sweden}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
series = {{PLoS ONE}},
title = {{School’s out forever? Heavy metal preferences and higher education}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0213716}},
doi = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0213716}},
year = {{2019}},
}