Can I delete my Google + account without affecting my gmail account?
 

I have no use for any of the features and as a result of a recent hack attempt want to remove the social aspect that is Google +.

My concern is not knowing if my gmail account is a part of Google +.

I have googled how to do it and as is usually the case as many opinions about the impacts of deleting actions.

Any insight/suggestion would be appreciated.

I don't know what system you are using, but regardless, it can be done. I'm strictly an Android user, but here are simple instructions for other platforms. You can permanently delete your Google profile and then scroll down the page to remove selected services. You would NOT choose your Gmail account, thereby leaving it intact. I did this once and found constant annoying pop ups announcing to me that google+ was disabled. Some things (I can't remember exactly what they were at this point) were not able to be accessed because of this. I found that it was too annoying and wound up reinstalling it.



https://support.google.com/plus/answer/1044503?hl=en