Building social capital through sport engagement: evidence for adults aged 50 years and older

Abstract

Involvement in sports is considered a powerful way to generate social capital. However, the role of sport engagement in the development of social relationships of older adults has not received much attention. Remarkably, there is a lack of empirical evidence on the quality and diversity of social relations built through active sport participation and spectatorship. This paper attempts to assess the relationship between sport engagement and various measures of network social capital, including the extension and quality of social networks and the heterogeneity of personal relationships. Also, it proposes new and more informative measurements of an individual's quantity and quality of social ties. By analysing data from a survey in Spain (N = 600) and applying logistic regressions, the results show that sport participation and attendance at sporting events are closely related to different dimensions of network social capital. Concerning people who are not actively engaged in sports, more extensive social networks characterise those who frequently attend sporting events. In contrast, active sport participation is associated with the extensity and quality measures of social connectedness, the level of satisfaction with friends and the opportunity to enjoy close relationships. Therefore, this paper provides new evidence on how sport engagement may result in tighter and extensive networks for older adults and serve as support for emphasising sports, physical activity and leisure as strategies for maintaining and boosting older people's social and psychological health.

The mediating role of social network between social trust and life satisfaction of older people: A structural equation model analysis approach

“…These interactions also act as a means to satisfy their instrumental and affective needs, such as obtaining help, and the feeling of being needed and appreciated [106, 82]. A stronger social trust, is more conducive to the strengthening of social ties and improving social participation [107]. If social participation of older people is higher, they receive more opportunities to strengthen their social interactions because they may have more chances to interact face-to-face with others.…”

The Effect of Playing Gateball Sports on Older Chinese People’s Wellbeing in the Context of Active Aging—Based Mediation of Social Capital

“…Some studies have adopted a dynamic approach, claiming that engagement in sports enhances elderly people's well-being by decreasing negative emotions of loneliness, while participation in sports may promote leisure pleasure, which contributes to elderly people's subjective well-being [14][15][16]. Some research shows that sports involvement may improve mental well-being by improving psychological resilience and that it can also improve psychological capital and, consequently, life satisfaction in older individuals [17][18][19]. However, few studies have looked at the relationship between gateball sports participation and elderly people's well-being, as well as the mechanisms that influence it from a social (e.g., social capital) standpoint.…”