Revision, Reclassification, and Refrigerators¹

Abstract

Current debates about cultural change question how and how often change in personal culture happens. Is personal culture stable, or under constant revision through interaction with the environment? While recent empirical work finds attitudes are remarkably stable, this paper argues that typifications-how material tokens are classified as a particular mental type by individualsare more open to transformation as a result of the fundamentally fuzzy nature of classifying.Specifically, this paper investigates the social conditions that lead people to reclassify. How do we move people to see the same thing differently over time? Paying attention to type-token dynamics provides mechanisms for why and under what circumstances personal culture may change. To assess reclassification, the paper analyzes an online survey experiment that asked people to classify refrigerators as owned by "Trump" or "Biden" voters. Those participants who received definitive feedback about the correct answer were more likely to reclassify than are those receiving normative feedback about how "most people" classified the images. Implications for cultural change and persuasion are discussed.

Change in Personal Culture over the Life Course

“…Conversely, inner-individual biographical states will influence individual biographical states leading to bi-directional adaption processes (Bernardi et al 2019:5). A practical implication of this model is that interventions at the supra-individual level, such as public health campaigns against smoking or corporate training to reduce implicit bias, seem futile if inner-individual states are not malleable (McDonnell, Stoltz, and Taylor 2021).…”

“…In this regard, this study is strictly associational, without analytic attention to the concrete mechanisms underlying change in personal culture. For instance, recent research based on experimental data suggests that re-classification may be one mechanism leading to change in personal culture (McDonnell et al 2021). Finally, the current study ignored the interrelatedness of different aspects of personal culture.…”

Grounding Oughtness: Morality of Coordination, Immorality of Disruption

“…Importantly, however, the question remains as to under what conditions a procedural or conceptual disruption will result in an automatic, negative response. In many ways, this question stands at the heart of broader debates about cultural change (Patterson 2018;Kiley and Vaisey 2020;McDonnell et al 2021). Certainly, in some cases, changing the status quo may be experienced positively, as a pleasant surprise or an act of creativity or liberty (Martin 2001:203).…”

Paint it White: Segregationist Logics in Advertising and the Electric Guitar

“…Sociologists of culture recognize the relevance of measuring and theorizing the production, consumption, and shared perceptions of objects (Griswold 1987; Griswold and Mangione 2013; McDonnell and Stoltz 2021; Mohr et al. 2020; Rawlings and Childress 2021).…”

“…Sociologists of culture recognize the relevance of measuring and theorizing the production, consumption, and shared perceptions of objects (Griswold 1987;Griswold and Mangione 2013;McDonnell and Stoltz 2021;Mohr et al 2020;Rawlings and Childress 2021). While sociologists generally emphasize cultural meanings, processes, and other non-material manifestations, scholars are increasingly interrogating the material dimension of culture (Mohr et al 2020).…”