Leisure and Social Capital: An Analysis of Types of Company and Activities

Abstract

The relation between leisure activities and social capital is examined in this paper. The focus is on two dimensions: the company in which the activities were performed (household members versus friends and acquaintances) and the nature of the activities (productive versus consumptive). Data are employed from a time-use survey conducted in the United Kingdom in 2000. Productive activities are positively related to the social capital indicators of civic engagement and helping, while consumptive activities are not. The type of activity matters more than the type of company. Leisure activities especially further people's social capital among groups that are already gifted with high levels of civic engagement and helping.

Keywords:

• civic engagement
• consumptive activities
• productive activities
• sociability
• time use survey

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank several people for their contributions to this paper: the anonymous reviewers and editors of Leisure Sciences, Paul Dekker, Matthijs Kalmijn, and Kees van Rees for their feedback and comments, and the members of our expert panel for their help in coding the leisure activities.

Notes

^a Such as: clubbing, conversation with neighbor, outdoors with friends, was at a pub with a friend.

∗ p < .05;

∗∗ p < .01;

∗∗∗ p < .001.

∗ p < .05;

∗∗ p < .01;

∗∗∗ p < .001.

∗ p < .05;

∗∗ p < .01;

∗∗∗ p < .001.