3.1.3
Subcultures
Test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
Subcultures
A subculture is a small culture within the dominant culture and may have different norms & values while having many aspects in common.

Folk culture
- Folk culture is associated with pre-industrial or early industrial societies and display a number of key features:
- Authenticity.
- Actively created.
- Active involvement.
- Authenticity refers to the way in which folk culture emerges from everyday experiences, customs, and beliefs of ordinary people, such as traditional folk music, songs, storytelling, and dance.

Active creation
- Folk cultures must be actively created, in that they must be produced by ordinary people in local communities rather than manufactured by others.
- Active involvement means that people must actively participate in the culture, rather than being passive recipients of products manufactured by others.

High culture
- High culture refers to that which is deemed to be superior in taste and associated with the privileged intellectual elite, the wealthy and educated upper- and upper-middle classes.
- High culture is seen as something special and something of lasting artistic, literary or intellectual value worthy or preserving.
- Examples of high culture include museums, theatre, art galleries and opera houses.

Mass, popular and low culture
- The terms mass, popular and low culture are often used interchangeably to refer to the same type of culture in slightly different ways.

Low culture
- Low culture is often used in a derogatory (critical and insulting) way to describe mass or low culture, suggesting inferiority in comparison to high culture.
1Theory & Methods
1.1Sociological Theories
1.2Sociological Methods
2Education with Methods in Context
2.1Role & Function of the Education System
2.2Educational Achievement
2.3Relationships & Processes Within Schools
3Option 1: Culture & Identity
3.1Conceptions of Culture
3.2Identity & Socialisation
3.3Social Identity
3.4Production, Consumption & Globalisation
4Option 1: Families & Households
4.1Families & Households
4.2Changing Patterns
4.3The Symmetrical Family
4.4Children & Childhood
5Option 1: Health
5.1Social Constructions
5.2Social Distribution of Healthcare
5.3Provision & Access to Healthcare
5.4Mental Health
6Option 1: Work, Poverty & Welfare
6.1Poverty & Wealth
7Option 2: Beliefs in Society
7.1Ideology, Science & Religion
7.2Religious Movements
7.3Society & Religion
8Option 2: Global Development
8.1Development, Underdevelopment & Global Inequality
8.2Globalisation & Global Organisations
8.3Aid, Trade, Industrialisation, Urbanisation
9Option 2: The Media
9.1Contemporary Media
9.2Media Representations
10Crime & Deviance
10.1Crime & Society
10.2Social Distribution of Crime
Jump to other topics
1Theory & Methods
1.1Sociological Theories
1.2Sociological Methods
2Education with Methods in Context
2.1Role & Function of the Education System
2.2Educational Achievement
2.3Relationships & Processes Within Schools
3Option 1: Culture & Identity
3.1Conceptions of Culture
3.2Identity & Socialisation
3.3Social Identity
3.4Production, Consumption & Globalisation
4Option 1: Families & Households
4.1Families & Households
4.2Changing Patterns
4.3The Symmetrical Family
4.4Children & Childhood
5Option 1: Health
5.1Social Constructions
5.2Social Distribution of Healthcare
5.3Provision & Access to Healthcare
5.4Mental Health
6Option 1: Work, Poverty & Welfare
6.1Poverty & Wealth
7Option 2: Beliefs in Society
7.1Ideology, Science & Religion
7.2Religious Movements
7.3Society & Religion
8Option 2: Global Development
8.1Development, Underdevelopment & Global Inequality
8.2Globalisation & Global Organisations
8.3Aid, Trade, Industrialisation, Urbanisation
9Option 2: The Media
9.1Contemporary Media
9.2Media Representations
10Crime & Deviance
10.1Crime & Society
10.2Social Distribution of Crime
Practice questions on Subcultures
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1Key features of folk culture:Fill in the list
Unlock your full potential with Seneca Premium
Unlimited access to 10,000+ open-ended exam questions
Mini-mock exams based on your study history
Unlock 800+ premium courses & e-books