Variety in cultural choice and the activation of social ties

This paper builds on the general connection between culture consumption and sociability which has been the focus of recent research in the sociology of culture. I propose that cultural variety, as given by the number of cultural activities that the person engages in, is tied not only to static properties of social networks (such as range), but also to the likelihood of having benefited from this connectivity (social capital). Taking the classic example of finding a job via a network contact as the main outcome, I show that persons who have a propensity to engage in a wide variety of cultural activities have a higher likelihood of having found out about their current job via a weak tie and that different types of weak tie activation are selectively correlated with distinct cultural taste profiles.

► I examine the connection cultural variety and social capital. ► Cultural variety is positively connected to finding a job via a social contact. ► Cultural variety is positively connected to having used a weak tie.