Affluence without status: Classed meanings of working-class leisure activities on the Finnish-language Internet

Group	Translated word	Finnish word	Ratio	Working class (%)	Middle class (%)
Sports	Nordic walking	sauvakävely	3.89	7.98	2.05
Venues	film festival	elokuvafestivaali	3.13	4.77	1.52
Sports	ice hockey	jääkiekko	3.07	7.33	2.39
Sports	skateboarding	skeittaus	3.04	12.73	4.18
Crafts	sewing	ompelu	2.76	16.43	5.95
Sports	downhill skiing	laskettelu	2.71	15.49	5.71
Association	art association	taideyhdistys	2.65	22.59	8.52
Sports	bowling	keilaaminen	2.32	7.26	3.13
Music	rap gig	räppikeikka	2.25	29.54	13.12
Movies	horror movie	kauhuelokuva	2.13	29.20	13.71
Venues	karaoke bar	karaokebaari	2.10	37.51	17.85
Sports	martial arts	kamppailulaji	2.03	7.33	3.62
Music	schlager concert	iskelmäkonsertti	1.95	32.22	16.57
Music	hip-hop	hiphop	1.91	66.32	34.81
Sports	baseball game	pesäpallo-ottelu	1.75	15.21	8.69
Sports	football match	jalkapallo-ottelu	1.75	25.80	14.74
Sports	motor sports	moottoriurheilu	1.71	15.70	9.19
Music	popular song	viihdemusiikki	1.60	42.42	26.47
Movies	short film	lyhytelokuva	1.59	24.77	15.56
Outdoor	bird watching	lintubongaus	1.55	9.86	6.38
Venues	karaoke	karaoke	1.55	37.61	24.25
Games	billiards	biljardi	1.48	61.89	41.81
Sports	gymnastics	jumppa	1.47	12.88	8.76
Music	schlager	iskelmä	1.45	42.42	29.32
Sports	cycling	pyöräily	1.43	47.41	33.14
Crafts	knitting	neulominen	1.41	17.29	12.26
Movies	documentary film	dokumenttielokuva	1.39	89.71	64.40
Sports	football	jalkapallo	1.36	4.77	3.52
Venues	gig venue	keikkapaikka	1.36	65.23	47.98
Sports	running	juoksu	1.34	55.92	41.70
Venues	bar	baari	1.34	82.78	61.57
Music	drums	rummut	1.32	27.77	21.06
Music	jazz	jazz	1.28	48.38	37.65
Television	TV series	TV-sarja	1.28	92.88	72.83
Music	folk music	kansanmusiikki	1.26	32.39	25.65
Sports	roller skating	rullaluistelu	1.26	1.91	1.52
Venues	flea market	kirpputori	1.26	61.77	49.21
Movies	action movies	toimintaelokuva	1.24	87.42	70.49
Music	jazz concert	jazz-konsertti	1.23	33.39	27.07
Venues	dance pavilion	tanssilava	1.23	49.74	40.30
Music	guitar	kitara	1.21	69.46	57.34
Outdoor	fishing	kalastus	1.20	29.56	24.67
Crafts	weaving	kutominen	1.19	5.33	4.49
Music	blues concert	blues-konsertti	1.19	29.07	24.39
Television	film	elokuva	1.19	92.05	77.27
Venues	dance festival	tanssifestivaali	1.17	4.59	3.94
Sports	training	treeni	1.12	52.45	46.92
Venues	village festival	kyläjuhla	1.11	49.98	44.86
Music	gospel	gospel	1.10	17.32	15.73
Movies	comedy film	komediaelokuva	1.09	72.75	66.48
Music	kantele [traditional Finnish stringed instrument]	kantele	1.09	2.77	2.54
Music	funk	funk	1.09	64.00	58.86
Television	music	musiikki	1.05	47.06	44.61
Music	heavy metal concert	heavy-konsertti	1.03	37.37	36.37
Music	wind instrument	puhallinsoitin	1.02	9.92	9.73
Television	current affairs programme	ajankohtaisohjelma	1.01	65.47	64.90
Music	pop	pop	1.00	67.06	67.38
Television	children's programme	lastenohjelma	1.00	22.11	22.14
Television	entertainment	viihde	1.00	65.20	65.12
Crafts	painting	maalaus	0.98	19.58	19.97
Movies	sci-fi	scifi	0.98	56.67	57.60
Music	rock concert	rock-konsertti	0.97	59.97	61.71
Television	sports programme	urheiluohjelma	0.97	48.50	49.75
Television	movie	leffa	0.96	48.39	50.20
Television	documentary	dokumentti	0.93	67.80	72.66
Venues	amusement park	huvipuisto	0.92	67.18	72.97
Games	yard game	pihapeli	0.91	56.12	61.76
Music	string instrument	jousisoitin	0.89	4.77	5.35
Music	piano	piano	0.89	44.80	50.37
Sports	gym	kuntosali	0.86	32.24	37.47
Association	scouts	partio	0.84	5.21	6.22
Movies	drama film	draamaelokuva	0.84	53.17	63.44
Venues	cultural festival	kulttuurifestivaali	0.83	19.82	23.84
Venues	pop-up restaurant	ravintolapäivä	0.83	29.08	35.10
Association	sports association	urheiluseura	0.82	28.09	34.39
Games	board game	lautapeli	0.82	73.57	89.40
Television	news	uutiset	0.82	65.33	79.40
Music	rock	rock	0.81	64.51	79.59
Outdoor	walking with a pet	ulkoilutus	0.80	39.69	49.82
Television	cultural programme	kulttuuriohjelma	0.79	37.26	47.34
Games	crossword puzzle	ristisanatehtävä	0.78	35.40	45.61
Sports	ice hockey game	jääkiekko-ottelu	0.78	19.44	24.84
Venues	fair	messut	0.78	35.41	45.35
Music	electronic dance music	konemusiikki	0.77	26.62	34.77
Television	nature programme	luonto-ohjelma	0.76	47.12	62.26

[i] Comments: The table includes the search words representing lifestyle activities disproportionally popular among the working class, with a ratio comparing their popularity among the middle class and their rate of participation within each class.

Table 2

Original Finnish and translated English words organised into dichotomy groups

Dichotomy	Translated (positive)	Translated (negative)	Finnish (positive)	Finnish (negative)
Affluence	rich	poor	rikas	köyhä
	affluent	self-sufficient	hyvinvoiva	toimeentuleva
	wealthy	impoverished	varakas	vähävarainen
	opulent	indigent	ylellinen	puutteellinen
	privileged	underprivileged	etuoikeutettu	vähäosainen
Cultivation	civilised	uncivilised	sivistynyt	sivistymätön
	polite	rude	kohtelias	töykeä
	proper	improper	asiallinen	sopimaton
	refined	unrefined	hienovarainen	tyly
	mannerly	unmannerly	hyväkäytöksinen	huonokäytöksinen
Education	educated	uneducated	koulutettu	kouluttamaton
	learned	unlearned	oppinut	oppimaton
	capable	incapable	osaava	osaamaton
	acclaimed	modest	huomioitu	vaatimaton
	qualified	unqualified	pätevä	epäpätevä
Employment	director	employee	johtaja	työntekijä
	owner	worker	omistaja	työläinen
	management	staff	johto	henkilöstö
	bourgeois	worker	porvari	duunari
	foreman	labourer	työnjohtaja	työmies
Status	prestigious	unprestigious	arvostettu	arvostamaton
	esteemed	lowly	korkea-arvoinen	vähäpätöinen
	reputable	disreputable	hyvämaineinen	huonomaineinen
	known	unknown	tunnettu	tuntematon
	eminent	mundane	merkittävä	arkipäiväinen
Morality	good	bad	hyvä	paha
	moral	immoral	moraalinen	moraaliton
	ethical	unethical	eettinen	epäeettinen
	honest	dishonest	rehellinen	epärehellinen
	altruistic	selfish	epäitsekäs	itsekäs
Gender	woman	man	nainen	mies
	girl	boy	tyttö	poika
	feminine	masculine	feminiininen	maskuliininen
	mother	father	äiti	isä
	chick	dude	muija	äijä

Working-class leisure activity groups by class-related dimension (cosine similarity)
**Comments:** The figure shows the semantic alignment of working-class leisure activity groups across seven class-related dimensions. Negative values indicate stronger alignment with the lower-class direction of a dimension, whereas positive values indicate stronger alignment with the higher-class end. For example, positive values on the affluence dimension indicate stronger associations with affluent rather than economically disadvantaged terms (see Tables 1 and 2 for the lists of words composing each word group).

Table A1

Orientation of leisure activity groups to class dichotomy groups (cosine similarity)

Activity	Dichotomy	Orientation
Association	Affluence	0.062557208
	Cultivation	0.059779695
	Education	−0.0197259
	Employment	0.044406677
	Gender	0.00034219
	Morality	0.080520711
	Status	0.00660272
Crafts	Affluence	0.061802228
	Cultivation	0.109816761
	Education	0.028057788
	Employment	−0.041170191
	Gender	0.131329885
	Morality	0.053453486
	Status	−0.131689496
Games	Affluence	0.070433944
	Cultivation	0.013631693
	Education	−0.036187229
	Employment	−0.06009814
	Gender	−0.032688195
	Morality	−0.002434482
	Status	−0.19153809
Movies	Affluence	0.030714718
	Cultivation	−0.020234055
	Education	−0.092730756
	Employment	−0.080257342
	Gender	−0.034778511
	Morality	−0.016210935
	Status	−0.055595419
Music	Affluence	0.166265068
	Cultivation	0.154711598
	Education	0.01995686
	Employment	0.009337826
	Gender	−0.109756246
	Morality	0.097484729
	Status	−0.047412569
Outdoor	Affluence	0.107999172
	Cultivation	0.056199341
	Education	−0.003375327
	Employment	0.021318345
	Gender	−0.038533197
	Morality	0.020035593
	Status	−0.11310453
Sports	Affluence	0.103761205
	Cultivation	0.057960674
	Education	0.042364844
	Employment	−0.051986586
	Gender	−0.07675352
	Morality	0.032728725
	Status	−0.15173822
Television	Affluence	0.099946607
	Cultivation	0.012609763
	Education	−0.015116019
	Employment	−0.009077579
	Gender	−0.017084336
	Morality	0.016698499
	Status	−0.098981395
Venues	Affluence	0.207317062
	Cultivation	0.083250307
	Education	−0.000506039
	Employment	−0.014026231
	Gender	0.093606271
	Morality	0.008941011
	Status	−0.052335845
Music	Affluence	0.166265068
	Cultivation	0.154711598
	Education	0.01995686
	Employment	0.009337826
	Gender	−0.109756246
	Morality	0.097484729
	Status	−0.047412569
Outdoor	Affluence	0.107999172
	Cultivation	0.056199341
	Education	−0.003375327
	Employment	0.021318345
	Gender	−0.038533197
	Morality	0.020035593
	Status	−0.11310453
Sports	Affluence	0.103761205
	Cultivation	0.057960674
	Education	0.042364844
	Employment	−0.051986586
	Gender	−0.07675352
	Morality	0.032728725
	Status	−0.15173822
Television	Affluence	0.099946607
	Cultivation	0.012609763
	Education	−0.015116019
	Employment	−0.009077579
	Gender	−0.017084336
	Morality	0.016698499
	Status	−0.098981395
Venues	Affluence	0.207317062
	Cultivation	0.083250307
	Education	−0.000506039
	Employment	−0.014026231
	Gender	0.093606271
	Morality	0.008941011
	Status	−0.052335845

Table A2

Results of robustness analysis: Orientation of leisure activity groups to class dichotomy groups (cosine similarity)

Activity	Dichotomy	Orientation
Association	Affluence	0.072251929
	Cultivation	0.053814328
	Education	−0.036454874
	Employment	0.06185564
	Gender	0.047388073
	Morality	0.05454912
	Status	0.011639787
Crafts	Affluence	0.038537379
	Cultivation	0.095380714
	Education	0.049223811
	Employment	−0.04973556
	Gender	0.148837011
	Morality	0.051178891
	Status	−0.135110357
Games	Affluence	0.105454482
	Cultivation	0.035953807
	Education	0.00366006
	Employment	−0.026721218
	Gender	−0.004602686
	Morality	0.036864151
	Status	−0.13048934
Movies	Affluence	0.041734419
	Cultivation	−0.015323146
	Education	−0.087013525
	Employment	−0.076077339
	Gender	−0.047171549
	Morality	−0.015014733
	Status	−0.038711322
Music	Affluence	0.159517222
	Cultivation	0.156073422
	Education	0.019450091
	Employment	0.011994574
	Gender	−0.107435493
	Morality	0.098501205
	Status	−0.041291894
Outdoor	Affluence	0.157238178
	Cultivation	0.052213808
	Education	−0.025358921
	Employment	0.017745528
	Gender	−0.047371575
	Morality	0.019355173
	Status	−0.075795381
Sports	Affluence	0.099024842
	Cultivation	0.058804745
	Education	0.044418103
	Employment	−0.051447772
	Gender	−0.078097326
	Morality	0.03166005
	Status	−0.155620516
Television	Affluence	0.130628238
	Cultivation	0.041650044
	Education	0.003766689
	Employment	−0.035332207
	Gender	−0.014633951
	Morality	0.021487033
	Status	−0.09738317
Venues	Affluence	0.190249847
	Cultivation	0.074633538
	Education	−0.014939888
	Employment	−0.028556477
	Gender	0.092274726
	Morality	0.008780566
	Status	−0.057366524

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2026-0019 | Journal eISSN: 2001-5119 | Journal ISSN: 1403-1108

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Language: English

Page range: 205 - 230

Published on: Oct 23, 2026

Published by: University of Gothenburg Nordicom

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

working class,

digital media,

word embedding,

computational social sciences,

social stratification

Related subjects:

Social sciences,

Communication science,

Mass communication,

Public and political communication

© 2026 Mikael Wallin, published by University of Gothenburg Nordicom
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Volume 47 (2026): Issue 2 (June 2026)

Affluence without status: Classed meanings of working-class leisure activities on the Finnish-language Internet

Figures & Tables

Table 1

Table 2

Figure 1

Table A1

Table A2

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