Bridging Capital Research Articles

A comparative study on the relationship between social networking site use and social capital among Australian and Korean youth

ABSTRACTSocial network sites (SNS) have become increasingly pervasive in the daily lives of adolescents. This study explores the relationship between SNS use and perceived online social capital among adolescents using survey data from Australia and Korea. We conducted a face-to-face survey of adolescents (12–15-year-olds) in major cities in Australia (N = 401) and Korea (N = 644) in 2013. There was no significant difference in time spent on SNS between adolescents in the two countries; however, significant differences in the way adolescents use SNS were found. Australian adolescents tended to use SNS for group activities, whereas Koreans used it for social monitoring. There was a positive relationship between SNS use and online social capital in both countries. However, the types of social capital that were found to have a strong relationship to SNS use were different. Among Australian adolescents, SNS activities had a higher correlation with bonding social capital compared to bridging capital, whereas the result was contrasting among Korean adolescents. The impact of SNS use on online social capital differed between the two countries, showing that Australian adolescents reporting low SNS use gained online social capital if they used SNS more intensely. Finally, the impact of SNS use and culture on perceived online social capital was examined by conducting hierarchical multiple regressions. Interpersonal communication and group activities emerged as significant predictors of online social capital.

온라인 게임 과몰입에 영향을 주는 사회적 상호작용 요인에 관한 연구

Abstract The market size of online games has been rapidly growing as well as the behaviors of online gaming users have been changed. Online games are different from the traditional video games, because they permit players to interact each other during playing games. Today online gaming is a part of everyday life and social interaction has an impact on online gaming behaviors. Social interaction does not only have a positive impact on online game behaviors, but it also has a negative impact on them such as excessive online game usage. Previous research has a limitation to consider social interaction as a comprehensive concept. In order to fill the gap, we explore the factors of social interaction influencing on excessive online game usage. After reviewing previous literature, this study chooses three factors of social interaction such as escaping loneliness, expanding online social bridging capital, and reinforcing offline social bonding capital. The findings show that all of three factors of social interaction positively affect the excessive online game usage.

Impact of internal and external social capital on firm innovation

This paper analyzes the influence of bonding capital and bridging capital on innovation using a sample of 215 hospitality and tourism firms located in the World Heritage Cities of Spain. Results sh...

The role of attachment style in Facebook use and social capital: evidence from university students and a national sample.

Social networking sites (SNSs) can be beneficial tools for users to gain social capital. Although social capital consists of emotional and informational resources accumulated through interactions with strong or weak social network ties, the existing literature largely ignores attachment style in this context. This study employed attachment theory to explore individuals' attachment orientations toward Facebook usage and toward online and offline social capital. A university student sample (study 1) and a representative national sample (study 2) showed consistent results. Secure attachment was positively associated with online bonding and bridging capital and offline bridging capital. Additionally, secure attachment had an indirect effect on all capital through Facebook time. Avoidant attachment was negatively associated with online bonding capital. Anxious-ambivalent attachment had a direct association with online bonding capital and an indirect effect on all capital through Facebook. Interaction frequency with good friends on Facebook positively predicted all online and offline capital, whereas interaction frequency with average friends on Facebook positively predicted online bridging capital. Interaction frequency with acquaintances on Facebook was negatively associated with offline bonding capital. The study concludes that attachment style is a significant factor in guiding social orientation toward Facebook connections with different ties and influences online social capital. The study extends attachment theory among university students to a national sample to provide more generalizable evidence for the current literature. Additionally, this study extends attachment theory to the SNS setting with a nuanced examination of types of Facebook friends after controlling extraversion. Implications for future research are discussed.

Eco-innovation antecedents in cultural tourism clusters: External relationships and explorative knowledge

This paper analyses the mediating role played by knowledge strategy in the relationship between social capital and eco-innovation in cultural tourism clusters. Specifically, we will focus on bridging capital, based on networks made up of structural holes, as a fundamental antecedent of eco-innovation by means of explorative knowledge. The empirical study was performed on a sample of tourism firms located in Spain’s World Heritage Cities. The results reveal that knowledge exploration strategy is a key driving force through which firms located in cultural tourism clusters can take advantage of the potential of bridging capital in order to develop eco-innovations.

Retention Requirements and Incentives for Controlling Inefficient Risk-Taking -- Bridging Banking, Securitization and Capital Requirements

This paper models incentives for risk-taking by managers of banks or securitization deals. Of particular interest are risk-retention rules for producers of structured securitization deals, which have been mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act; the model can also be applied to bank managers. We show how incentives can be set up so that problems of asymmetric information can co-exist with socially optimal risk-taking. The role of holding an equity piece as an incentive tool has been over-emphasized; the best “skin in the game” incentive structure for management is to hold securities of all levels of risk, including the safest piece. As a device for protecting against bank runs, the best incentive tools require tilting the incentive structure toward the safest pieces, but not by much.

Building Virtual Bridges: How Rural Micro‐Enterprises Develop Social Capital in Online and Face‐to‐Face Settings

AbstractIn rural UK, businesses are often isolated and have much to gain from healthy networks, yet studies show that many rural business owners fail to network effectively. Information communications technologies offer new ways to network that might benefit rural businesses by expanding their reach. This study looked at online and face‐to‐face networking behaviour among rural micro‐enterprises in Scotland in relation to the development of bonding and bridging social capital. Given the challenges of remoteness faced by many rural businesses, online networking is particularly useful in developing bridging capital, but is an unsuitable context for building the trust needed to gain tangible benefits. The article therefore highlights the importance of face‐to‐face interactions in developing trust and bonding social capital. Rural business owners face distinctive challenges with respect to online communications, which are explored in this article.

Does social capital affect SNS usage? A look at the roles of subjective well-being and social identity

This study views social capital as a precursor of SNS (Social Network Service) use, which departs from the previous thoughts that considered social capital as the outcome of SNS activities. Drawing upon the theoretical premises regarding network-based social capital, this study examines the roles of subjective well-being and social identity in terms of their moderating as well as mediating influences on SNS use. This study sought to sub-categorize social capital and SNS use with a view to providing more refined theoretical and practical implications. The study’s main objectives are three-fold: First, the study verifies whether social capital, categorized into bridging and bonding capital, influences one’s SNS use as measured by qualitative use and quantitative use. Second, the study aims to confirm whether subjective well-being mediates between social capital and SNS use. Third, it examines whether social identity moderates the relationship between social capital and SNS use.The study result indicates that bridging capital only had a significant impact on qualitative use. However, subjective well-being did not mediate the relationship between social capital and SNS use. Finally, the cognitive identity caused significant difference in the effect of social capital on quantitative SNS use, whereas cognitive and affective identities caused significant differences in regards to the effects of bridging capital on qualitative SNS use.

Rodzina chrześcijańska jako środowisko budowania społeczeństwa obywatelskiego

This text is an attempt to describe mutual relations between family and civil society in Polish reality. It does research work on historical and cultural conditions for faint rootedness of civic attitudes and commitment in our society. It poses a question on causes of low level of social trust and describes Polish familism in their mutual relation. It takes into consideration the role of Catholic Church as the institution which is constantly and deeply present in the life of most polish families and has much influence. This context indicates that there are both a possibility and need to build a Christian civil society in Poland. A new formula of parish as a community of communities is its exemplification. Activity of Church and other agents of public life (mainly: local authorities, media, educational institutions, NGO’s, government, works and employers) in support of civil society in our country is an attempt to strengthen, beside the bonding capital necessary in the family and national life, the bridging capital which enables to build the new social ties and commitments basing on mutual trust, benevolence and cooperation with others.

Forging Bonds and Burning Bridges

Putnam warned over a decade ago that the urge to associate with similar others online may lead to “cyberbalkanization,” fostering bonding capital at the expense of bridging capital. This study examines balkanization with respect to political blogs, investigating to what extent opinions in posts and comment sections on blogs associated with the left and right are ideologically polarized. We also investigate whether extreme opinions tend to co-occur with uncivil discourse aimed at political opponents. Finally, this study compares political blogs with a newer information source that bridges the gap between old and new media—newspaper blogs—asking whether polarization and incivility are reduced on that platform. A content analysis was conducted of blog discussions about a salient political event—Occupy Wall Street. In both posts and comments, political blogs were highly polarized and opinion extremity and incivility were correlated. However, content on newspaper blogs was largely unpolarized and civil.

The role of different forms of bridging capital for immigrant adaptation and upward mobility. The case of Ukrainian and Vietnamese immigrants settled in Poland

This paper analyses the adaptation strategies of Vietnamese and Ukrainian immigrants having permit for settlement in Poland and settled in Warsaw and its vicinity (namely in the Mazowieckie province), with an emphasis on the relationship between the cultural, social and economic dimensions of adaptation. The research showed that due to the large cultural distance between the Vietnamese and Polish societies as well as the specific socio-cultural characteristics of Vietnamese immigrants (e.g. strong ethnic identity and a high level of in-group ties) the concept of adaptation should be reconsidered and a more holistic approach should be taken. From an individualistic perspective, a strategy of separation was most visible among the Vietnamese, whereas from a group and culturally sensitive perspective a strategy of collective and intermediate integration was predominant in this group along with collective social mobility. Vietnamese immigrants who were integrated with Polish society, such as pioneer immigrants, Vietnamese leaders, the spouses of Poles and representatives of the 1.5 and 2nd generations played the role of cultural brokers. They mediated between their compatriots and Polish society. Thus the integration of the majority of immigrants took place through the agency of the representatives, who also had a key role in the formation of the Vietnamese enclave. In the case of Ukrainian migrants the close cultural distance between the Polish and Ukrainian societies as well as the volume and density of relations between Ukrainian immigrants and Poles (including very frequent mixed marriages) primarily led to assimilation and individual social mobility. Cases of migrants operating in transnational social spaces which encompass Ukrainians, Poles and migrants from other post-Soviet countries remained rare. Ukrainian immigrants mainly based their adaptation on bridging capital accumulated in strong ties (which was related to their Polish spouses and cultural assimilation), whereas the Vietnamese migrants predominantly used bridging capital generated in weak ties as a resource for adaptation.

Building Community and Organisational Capacity to Enable Social Participation for Ageing Australian Rural Populations: A Resource-Based Perspective

In the context of neoliberal approaches to rural service delivery, the role of community organisations in creating social opportunities for ageing populations has long been acknowledged. However, there is little evidence concerning which types of resources diverse rural community stakeholders require to deliver these supports, and how these are accessed in contexts of population growth and ageing. From the Australian perspective, this research identifies how non-declining rural communities are responding to challenges that influence their capacity to enable social participation for older residents. Drawing on interviews with 26 community stakeholders across two rural communities, it explores the interconnectivity among resources that build organisational capacity to deliver social supports in the rural context, and the role and scope of bridging social capital in mobilising these resources. Findings indicate that bridging capital allows diverse rural community groups to access key physical, financial, human or organisational resources, particularly in the context of demand resulting from population ageing and growth. However, there are differences between public sector, large and small voluntary organisations in terms of the types of resources they require, and the contributions made to community bridging capital.

The role of trust in the development of connectivities amongst rural elders in England and Wales

Using Simmel’s notion of sociation, the way in which rural elders in England and Wales relate to, or connect with, each other and others within their community, can be seen to be conflictual as well as consensual. As a vehicle for exploiting this relationship, social capital also can be antithetic as well as convergent and an important element of social capital – trust – can be freely given but also, at the extreme, instrumental and enforced. Measuring trust as a descriptive variable amongst rural elders suggests that personal trust is very high but trust in organisations (system trust), less so. All types of trust tend to be higher amongst the ‘better off’ measured by a number of socio economic and locational variables. Exploring trust as a process suggests that losses of trust and not trusting do damage social capital and connectivity, but rural elders will try and overcome trust loss in a variety of ways. Building personal trust through bridging capital is important here, where a ‘leap of faith’ in trusting and reciprocity are significant. System trust is built around helpfulness, honesty, reasonableness and civility. Instrumental and system trust start with scepticism but can be built through personal experiences and the ‘word of mouth’ of those already trusted, where there is strong bonding capital. ‘Localness’ is seen as an important aspect of building instrumental trust and here familiarity is more important than reassurance or ‘warrants of trust’. Successive government polices promoting trust as a means of building both social capital and connectivity are seen to have limitations as the factors that influence convergent trust largely fall outside of the scope of policy manipulation.

Social Capital and Community Group Participation: Examining ‘Bridging’ and ‘Bonding’ in the Context of a Healthy Living Centre in the UK

ABSTRACTSocial capital has been widely advocated as a way of understanding and building community participation in the interest of health improvement. However, the concept as proposed by Putnam, has been criticised for presenting an overly romanticised account of complex community relations. This paper presents analysis from a qualitative evaluation of a Healthy Living Centre (HLC) in the North of England, to examine the utility of the concept of social capital in this context. We found the concepts of ‘bridging’ and ‘bonding’ social capital were useful – though not without limitations – in helping to make sense of the complexities and contradictions in participants’ experiences of community group participation. 'Bridging' helped provide an understanding of how the decline in shared social spaces such as local shops impacts on social relationships. 'Bonding' highlighted how community group membership can have positive and negative implications for individuals and the wider community. It was found that skilled group leadership was key to strengthening bridging capital. Politically, in the UK, community participation is seen as having an essential role in social change, for example, its centrality to the coalition government's idea of the ‘Big Society’. A micro‐examination of this HLC using the lens of social capital provides a valuable critical insight into community participation. It shows that this kind of initiative can be successful in building social capital, given conditions such as an appropriate setting and effective leadership. However, they cannot substitute for other kinds of investment in the physical infrastructure of a community. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Ties That Bind: Bonding Versus Bridging Social Capital and College Student Party Attendance

This study explored the relationship between bonding and bridging social capital and college student attendance at alcohol-present parties, a common method for building informal social networks. A random sample of students (n = 6,291; 52% female) from a large public midwestern university completed a survey regarding their alcohol use and party-related behaviors on targeted weekends. The survey also included questions regarding students' living arrangements, romantic relationships, and membership in student and community organizations. Based on a dichotomous logistic regression analysis, we concluded that the act of attending parties largely serves as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, more conventional and formal social capital. Membership in bonding groups is associated with increased odds of party attendance, and bridging exerts no direct effect on party attendance. However, bridging capital does mitigate the effect of bonding capital, reducing its apparent tendency to promote or contribute to partying. Off-campus parties may offer an informal supplement to more conventional social capital as students establish themselves in their new context. These findings may have implications for structural decisions (e.g., number of roommates) as well as the design of context-based prevention programs that address students' need to quickly build social capital without exposing both themselves and the students around them to the harms associated with high-risk drinking.

Social Networking Sites: Their Users and Social Implications - A Longitudinal Study

The rapid adoption of social networking sites (SNSs) raises important questions about the social implications of such usage. Drawing on unique longitudinal data, surveying a representative sample of Norwegian online users (N = 2,000, age 15–75 years) in 3 annual waves (2008, 2009, and 2010), this study found a significantly higher score among SNS users in comparison to nonusers in 3 out of 4 social capital dimensions: face-to-face interactions, number of acquaintances, and bridging capital. However, SNS-users, and in particular males, reported more loneliness than nonusers. Furthermore, cluster analyses identified 5 distinct types of SNS users: Sporadics, Lurkers, Socializers, Debaters, and Advanced. Results indicate that Socializers report higher levels of social capital compared to other user types.

Teenagers’ Experiences With Social Network Sites: Relationships to Bridging and Bonding Social Capital

Many studies have examined the relationship between social network sites (SNSs) and the development of social capital. However, most studies to date have only considered college and adult populations. This study examines the patterns of SNS use in an urban, teenage sample in the United States. It tests the hypothesis that use of SNSs is related to higher levels of social capital. The results show that youth who use Facebook and Myspace report higher social capital in both their school and online relationships. In addition, the analysis suggests that distinct modes of SNS experiences are differentially related to bridging and bonding social capital. Time spent in SNSs is related to bridging capital, while positive or negative experiences are related to bonding capital. The study offers new insights into how youth experience SNSs and the relationship of that experience with their connection to the world.

Social networking and adjustments among international students

How do social media facilitate adjustment to changes in social structure and culture? This research examines the impact of online social networking on online and offline social capitals and adjustment of international students in the United States. A survey of 195 international students in a major Midwestern university showed that students’ interactions with Americans and home country friends using Facebook, extroversion, and horizontal collectivism were positively related to international students’ social adjustment and online bridging capital. Facebook usage mediated the relationship between extroversion and online social capital. The implications of social network site use, personality, and cultural difference on social capital and adjustment are discussed.

The Differentiated Impact of Bridging and Bonding Social Capital on Economic Well-Being: An Individual Level Perspective

Social capital refers to trust, norms, and social networks. One of the most important features of social capital is its claimed capacity of promoting economic well-being. Theorists have assumed that any such effects vary according to the nature of different types of social capital. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative dataset, this study investigates the differentiated effects of individual bonding and bridging social capital on subsequent personal income and income-to-needs ratios. The analyses demonstrate that bridging capital, indicated by involvement in various voluntary organizations, has small but significant effects on future economic wellbeing. However, bonding capital, indicated by connections with kin and friends as reflected through social activities, various help interactions, and perceived emergency supports, does not show such an impact. These findings lend support to the theoretical assumption Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, March 2011, Volume XXXVIII, Number 1

Social Capital in Rural Areas in Poland the Case of the Świętokrzyskie Province

Abstract The study tackles the issue of the spatial distribution of social capital in Polish rural areas, using the example of the Świętokrzyskie province. R. Putnam’s theory was adopted as to social capital referring to social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them. A synthetic indicator of the quality of social capital was developed, which included 4 components: civic and religious engagement, reciprocity, honesty, trust and local press readership. The research was conducted mainly on the basis of unpublished data. Gminas (municipalities) with a high, an average and a low level of social capital were identified. The highest level of social capital was recorded in highly urbanised gminas with a favourable demographic structure. An average level of social capital was characteristic of typical agricultural gminas. A low level of social capital was recorded in areas with well developed industrial functions. The farmers employed at industrial plants in addition to working on their own farms, which was a prevailing practice in the time of the centrally planned economy, had a largely adverse impact on the weakening of bridging capital, and in recent years the population has not been capable to develop bonding capital as yet.