Social Capital and College Sport: In Search of the Bridging Potential of Intercollegiate Athletics

The measurement of bridging social capital in population health research

“…The questionnaire developed by Williams has been used in the sociological field too, but as some authors have pointed out, the subscales do not capture the conceptual distinction between bonding vs. bridging capital. Another example that illustrates the complexities of measuring bridging social capital is the instrument developed by Clopton et al They used the World Bank Social Capital and Assessment Tool (SCAT) in combination with the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) to study bridging social capital Clopton (2011). Bridging social capital was operationalized by the extent to which each student is able to adjust within the collegiate environment.…”

Outsiders Within: College Sport as an Avenue to Integrate International Students

“…Within the field of sport and higher education studies, a significant body of literature has examined the social impact of college sport on university students. Existing studies have examined how college sport influences students' social capital (Clopton, 2011), psychological health (Wann et al, 2008), and university identification (Katz & Heere, 2016;Kim et al, 2016). While some studies report that college sport promotes positive social changes (e.g., Katz & Heere, 2016), others report the opposite (e.g., Clopton, 2011).…”

“…Existing studies have examined how college sport influences students' social capital (Clopton, 2011), psychological health (Wann et al, 2008), and university identification (Katz & Heere, 2016;Kim et al, 2016). While some studies report that college sport promotes positive social changes (e.g., Katz & Heere, 2016), others report the opposite (e.g., Clopton, 2011). Clopton (2011) specifically argued that identifying with college sport may bond students into small homogeneous social networks prohibiting the development of a larger cohesive university community.…”

“…One way to mitigate challenges confronting international students and U.S. universities is to utilize college sport to foster students' university identity. University identity forms when students associate their university membership with emotional and cognitive meanings (Clopton, 2011). Students who identify with their universities are more likely to maintain psychological wellbeing, build a strong social network, achieve academic success, and donate back to the university (Brunette et al, 2017;Wann et al, 2008).…”

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“…Mangold, Bean, and Adams (2002) specified that intercollegiate athletic programs create a student's affiliation and rich a sense of belonging to the school. The university is a larger community structure and heavily relied upon for a strong sense of social experiences such as campus culture and variety social clubs (Clopton, 2011). In conjunction with the sense of intercollegiate athletic identification, intercollegiate athletic programs promote campus tradition and ritual including tailgates parties, winning history and team symbols, as well as unique color representing a certain university (Clopton 2008;Smith, 1988).…”