Favor theory – theory of social capital

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to formulate a theory of social capital, which has the potential to reconcile many of the contradictions and problems that exist today in this field of knowledge. The proposed conceptualization has the potential to resolve the following problems: 1) The impossibility of reducing the rational and irrational aspects of social capital to one denominator; 2) Lack of connection between micro and macro analysis; 3) tautology of definition, when social capital is defined by its effects; 4) the inability to reduce the manifestations of social capital to a single basis; 5) biased positivity; and others. First, the author proposes to define social capital through the concept of willingness to do a favor (favor willingness), which is meant to be the basis of social capital (social resource). Next the topic of the sources of this willingness is explored, which, according to the author, are liking for and trust in a social unit (person, group, company, etc.). Next, the concept of social capital infrastructure is introduced, the role of which is to allow for the accumulation of social capital and its transfer between network members. The infrastructure consists of two levels – the social network as a whole and interpersonal relations in particular. At the first level, general liking and trust are accumulated, at the second – personal liking and trust. Next the issue of extracting benefits from social capital (activation, use) is highlighted. After that, examples of the compatibility of this theory with already existing concepts are given. The author concludes that the proposed concept well resolves some key contradictions and problems in the science of social capital.