By Stephen Beech

Who goes to watch "highbrow" culture - such as ballet and opera - isn't simply down to wealth, according to new research.

Education and social connections matter more than income when it comes to participating in such cultural events, suggests the study.

Researchers wanted to find out why some people regularly attend the opera, visit art galleries, or go to classical music concerts while others rarely, if ever, do.

The findings, published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research , suggest the explanation goes far beyond money.

Researchers looked at around 7,500 people in the UK and the United States to understand what actually drives participation in so-called “highbrow” cultural activities.

Their findings reveal that a person’s education, vocabulary

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