For the term in biology, please see Subculture (biology).

In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a set of people with distinct sets of behavior and beliefs that differentiate them from a larger culture of which they are a part. The subculture may be distinctive because of the age of its members, or by their race, ethnicity, class and/or gender, and the qualities that determine a subculture as distinct may be aesthetic, religious, occupational, political, sexual or a combination of these factors.

As early as 1950 (p.361) David Riesman distinguished between a majority, "which passively accepted commercially provided styles and meanings, and a 'subculture' which actively sought a minority style...and interpreted it in accordance with subversive values" (Middleton 1990). In other words, subcultures are groups of individuals who, through a variety of methods, present themselves in opposition to the mainstream trends of their culture. If the subculture is characterized by a systematic opposition to the dominant culture, then it may be described as a counterculture.