What do cultural anthropologists primarily study?

Cultural anthropologists primarily focus on the cultural variation among humans, exploring the diverse social norms, values, beliefs, customs, and practices that characterize different societies around the world. This branch of anthropology is concerned with understanding how culture shapes human experiences and interactions. Cultural anthropologists conduct ethnographic studies, participant observation, and interviews to gather insights into how people live, what they value, and how their cultural context influences their behaviors and worldviews.

By comparing various cultures, cultural anthropologists can identify patterns of human behavior and the ways that societies organize themselves and function, leading to a deeper understanding of humanity as a whole. This focus on culture is what distinguishes cultural anthropology from other fields within anthropology, such as physical anthropology, which studies human biological evolution and physical characteristics, archaeology, which investigates past societies through material remains, and linguistic anthropology, which examines language and its role in social life. Each of those fields has its own specific focus, but the primary aim of cultural anthropology is the comprehensive study of cultural differences and similarities among contemporary societies.