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PreprintCited by 67Art Therapy and Mental HealthArts, Culture, and Music StudiesSocial and Cultural Dynamics

Who engages in the arts in the United States? A comparison of three types of engagement using data from the General Social Survey

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Bone, Jessica Katherine, Bu, Feifei, Fluharty, Meg, Paul, Elise, Sonke, Jill, Fancourt, Daisy·2021·BMC Public Health
DOI 10.31235/osf.io/5nyq3PMC PMC8264486

Preprint — published as 10.1186/s12889-021-11263-0

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Abstract

Engaging in the arts is a health-related behavior that may be influenced by social inequalities. While it is generally accepted that there is a social gradient in arts participation, previous studies of arts engagement in the US have not used comprehensive measures of engagement and often focus on single demographic or socioeconomic predictors of engagement rather than simultaneously testing a range of factors that may be related to one another. Using cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey (GSS) in the US, we examined which demographic, socioeconomic, residential, and health factors were associated with attendance at arts events, participation in arts activities, and membership of creative groups. We combined data from 1993 to 2016 in three analytical samples with a sample size of 8,684 for arts events, 4,372 for arts activities, and 4,268 for creative groups. Data were analysed using logistic regression. More education was associated with increased levels of all types of arts engagement. Parental education demonstrated a similar association. Being female, compared to male, was also consistently associated with higher levels of engagement. Attendance at arts events was lower in participants with lower income and social class, poorer health, and those living in less urban areas. However, these factors were not associated with engagement in arts activities or creative groups. Overall, we found evidence for a social gradient in attendance at arts events, which was not as pronounced in engagement in arts activities or creative groups. Given the many benefits of engagement in the arts for education, health, and wider welfare, our findings demonstrate the importance of identifying factors to reduce barriers to participation in the arts across all groups in society.

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  • There is little evidence of predictors of arts and cultural engagement changing over time, with predictors in the 1990s showing very high levels of similarity to predictors in the 2010s.

    “Additionally, it has been demonstrated that there is little evidence of predictors of arts and cultural engagement changing over time, with predictors in the 1990s showing very high levels of similarity to predictors in the 2010s [25].”

    From Difference in predictors and barriers to arts and cultural engagement with age in the United States: A cross-sectional analysis using the Health and Retirement Study (2021) · cites this paper as [25]

    The “Change across survey years” section reports no evidence that most tested associations changed over time, supporting the broad claim of stability. But it also finds changes in how sex and race relate to event attendance, including a widening racial disparity; it does not establish uniformly high similarity between predictors in the 1990s and 2010s. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • A social gradient associated with interested non-attendance in the arts has been observed, with additional barriers such as finances, lack of time, and transportation difficulties.

    “A social gradient associated with interested non-attendance in the arts has been observed, with a number of additional barriers to engagement such as finances, lack of time, and transportation difficulties [25].”

    From Difference in predictors and barriers to arts and cultural engagement with age in the United States: A cross-sectional analysis using the Health and Retirement Study (2021) · cites this paper as [25]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Bone, J. K., Bu, F., Fluharty, M., Paul, E., Sonke, J., & Fancourt, D.
Affiliations
  • University College London (GB)
  • University of Florida (US)
Corresponding author
Bone, Jessica Katherine
ORCID
Venue
BMC Public Health
Publisher
Center for Open Science
Published
2021-02-25
Volume
21
Issue
1
Pages
1349-1349
ISSN
1471-2458 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.31235/osf.io/5nyq3
PMC
PMC8264486
OpenAlex
W3182693441
Cited by
67
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 2
FWCI
58.48
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • SocArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • SocArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Endowment for the Arts
  • Wellcome Trust (205407/Z/16/Z)
  • Bloomberg Philanthropies
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Conservation › Art Therapy and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Arts, Culture, and Music Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Cultural Dynamics
Keywords
arts participation, cultural participation, social gradient, socioeconomic disparities, arts attendance, creative groups, parental education, gender differences, income, social class, urban-rural differences, health status, United States
MeSH terms
Art, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Music, Socioeconomic Factors, United States, Logistic Models

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