Different Destinies — Different Melodies: School Achievement, Anticipated Status and Adolescents' Tastes in Music

Abstract

The concept of anticipatory socialization has been under-utilized in communication research. Combining the Uses and Gratifications approach with the theories of Bourdieu and Passeron it is argued that, during adolescence, media use is related to the anticipated future as well as to the past. A theoretical model postulating school achievement, school satisfaction and anticipated school future as significant mediating factors in adolescents' tastes in music is tested by means of ANOVA and LISREL analyses of data from a survey of 1334 Swedish adolescents. The results provide qualified support for the model. The implications for theoretical development are discussed.