Analyzing the Relationships Between Frequency of Leisure Activity Participation and Social Capital

Abstract

Transportation research has focused on gaining a better understanding of how the need to travel is influenced by one’s social capital and relates to participation in various leisure activities. This study postulated that increased participation frequency of social-oriented leisure activities is an expressive outcome and thus mostly affected by expressive resources of social capital. To explore the impacts of social capital on leisure activity behavior—particularly the participation frequency—a refined survey was designed to obtain an extensive collection of leisure activities, social capital measures, as well as mobility and sociodemographic characteristics. The survey included questions to ascertain individuals’ instrumental and expressive social capital through position, resource, and generalized name generators. The 20 activities that were most reported by the survey respondents were examined using a zero-inflated ordered probit model with correlated error terms. Respondents with greater expressive resources participated in social leisure activities more frequently than those with fewer expressive resources. However, this relationship did not hold for the activities of drinking and socializing, attending church, or dining out. In contrast, instrumental social capital had mixed effects (i.e., positive, negative, or insignificant) in relation to the participation frequency of social activities.