On the Effect of Social Capital Components on Rural Women’s Quality of Life in Zabol Township, Iran

Abstract

Improvement of life quality is a general aim of all developmental programs all over the world. So that, It is an important issue that has been studied by socialists and even psychologists. Social capital is the social aspect that consists of trust, a norm for regulating the relation among members, and network, which can increase mental health and can be used as the access to health information; accordingly, it can influence individuals’ quality of life. Thus, the present study attempted to explore the effect of social capital components on rural women’s quality of life in Zabol Township. The statistical population of this study consisted of all rural women (15-64 years old) in the central district of Zabol Township (N=9234). Based on Bartlett (2001)’s sampling table and applying multi-stage cluster sampling method, 209 rural women were chosen for the study. The main instrument used in this study was a questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by the panel of experts and its reliability was established by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data were analyzed by SPSS23 software. Result of inter multiple regression analysis revealed that the social capital components were the main predictors of rural women’s quality of life in Zabol Township. The findings of this study have implication for rural development policy makers and planners in order to improve the rural women’s quality of life in the process of rural development.