Social Capital and Running: A Network Social Capital Perspective

Abstract

This study examines the measurement of position generators as a proxy of network social capital (NSC) and its influence on the extensity and upper reachability of social capital and sport/running participation. An analysis of 373 runners shows that running exercise participants rely on diverse relations to access and increase their social capital levels; stronger ties with the accessed occupations via running activities can help reach people with higher occupational prestige; access to more intermediate class occupations is significantly positively associated with upper reachability, whereas access to more working class occupations is significantly negatively associated with upper reachability; those who are older and have strong ties with people in accessed occupations known via running activities have higher levels of sport/running participation. We provide evidence for the application of NSC theory in sport to better understand how social networks operate by accessing extensity and upper reachability of social capital and how NSC influences sport (running) participation.