On the structure of dispositions. Transposability of and oppositions between aesthetic dispositions

•I reflect on two assumptions on dispositions prevalent in cultural sociology.•I offer an exploratory analysis on the audiences of art museums.•Using Relational Class Analysis, I find different dispositional configurations.•This finding suggests that dispositions vary in transposability.•It also refutes the idea that there is one hegemonic dispositional configuration.

Cultural sociology has reached conclusions about the properties of dispositions based on analyses of aesthetic principles external to the individual. I challenge this approach, and I reflect on two assumptions regarding the structure of dispositions prevalent in cultural sociology that ensue from this approach: (1) Dispositions are transposable across aesthetic domains (e.g., music, literature, visual arts), and (2) there exists one hegemonic configuration of dispositions which can be derived from the structure of the cultural field. I use data from an audience survey in two art museums in Flanders (Belgium) (n = 1448) and analyse aesthetic dispositions towards visual arts and towards music. Applying Relational Class Analysis, I find different dispositional configurations. These configurations are characterised by oppositions between aesthetic principles that do not coincide with the oppositions between aesthetic principles in the cultural field. Moreover, these configurations suggest that dispositions vary to the extent that they are transposable across aesthetic domains.