Personality Strength and Social Capital

Abstract

Many scholars have bemoaned declining levels of social trust and civic engagement in our society. A decline in trust, some have argued, is linked to a decrease in civic engagement and vice versa. This study examines the processes through which this dynamic, termed social capital, is maintained. The authors differentiate three dimensions of social capital: social trust, life satisfaction, and civic engagement. They also examine the influence of demographic, personality strength, political interest, and informational variables (hard news media use) on these dimensions. The authors use data from DDB Needham's 1997 Life Style Study to test their hypothesized model. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that personality strength, an amalgam of self-confidence and opinion leadership, has a relatively strong direct impact on all dimensions of social capital, whereas informational variables have rather weak effects that are limited to civic engagement.