# What's the difference to you between social and cultural? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 1, 2018, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-to-you-between-social-and-cultural/809800 "2018-03-01T05:08:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Luciano700](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Luciano700](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luciano700)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-to-you-between-social-and-cultural/809800/1 "2018-03-01T05:08:52Z")
To me cultural would be more like norms and etiquette of your society Social would basically include the stuff with the people around you What’s your contrast between both? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-to-you-between-social-and-cultural/809800/2 "2018-03-01T11:02:27Z")
I’m a human geographer (as opposed to a physical geographer, though there’s tons of overlap). In our academic world, “social” has a broader meaning — it includes most anything emerging from contact among human beings (economics, law, politics…). “Cultural” is more restricted. While still embracing a diversity of products of human interaction, it’s focused on the things that make one group (large or small) different from the next — mainly, “superficial” (that is, essentially arbitrary) distinctions like languages, religions, and architectural styles. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-to-you-between-social-and-cultural/809800/3 "2018-03-01T13:33:45Z")
I see it the exact opposite of the OP. Cultural is based on specific criteria while social is the the general population. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-to-you-between-social-and-cultural/809800/4 "2018-03-01T15:32:31Z")
“Cultural” implies that the whatever-it-is that we’re discussing (values, attitudes, tastes) vary from one culture to another. “Social” includes that but can also mean that whatever-it-is is universal among all known cultures but is nevertheless the way that it is because of it being established as a social norm. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-to-you-between-social-and-cultural/809800/5 "2018-03-01T15:54:56Z")
I’m not a professional but I see it JKellyMap’s way. Cultural is a subet of social to me. Social is everything involved in a society, culture being one of those things. Culture is, in general, the personal manners, art, music, manner of dress and appearance, and other outward customs of superficial behavior that distinguish a group of similar people. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-to-you-between-social-and-cultural/809800/6 "2018-03-01T15:56:26Z")
Social = how people interact and relate to each other. Cultural = the stuff people create and share with each other. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-to-you-between-social-and-cultural/809800/7 "2018-03-01T16:17:55Z")
Weird. I was interpreting this very differently: social activities are that subset of cultural activities done in groups. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-to-you-between-social-and-cultural/809800/8 "2018-03-01T16:31:37Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Social = how people interact and relate to each other. > > Cultural = the stuff people create and share with each other. Kind of like this. Social is interaction, very dynamic. Cultural is a definition of common practices among people, more an analysis of the society as a whole. But these are general terms, in a more specific context they are easier to differentiate.