Linkage Between Leisure Time and Social Capital Among Iranian Youth

The paper is an attempt to study the relations of leisure time and social capital, while attention is paid to theoretical and conceptual aspects of these two constructs in the literature of social sciences. Also attempts have been made to study the impact and interaction between leisure time and social capital within the framework of extrication between the individual and collective leisure times as well as intergroup and intra-group social capital. Through a secondary analysis of national surveys data about the Iranian youth, the linkage between leisure time and social capital is statistically analyzed.

Overall, the findings of the present study show that the youth who spend most of their leisure time in collective leisure activities compared to the youth who spend their time in personal activities, enjoy more social capital – through the existence of social capital in the society, prepares the ground or opportunity for the formation and spread of collective leisure in the public of third places compared to private and personal leisure activities. If they possess the necessary conditions and capabilities, through presence in these places, the youth can reproduce and strengthen the indexes and constructive components of the social capital.