Network Composition, Individual Social Capital and Culture: Comparing Traditional and Post-Modernized Cultures

Sociological Research Online. 2017. Vol. 22. No. 2. P. 1–20.

Häuberer J., Tatarko A.

This article addresses the influence of cultural background on the access to social capital in family and friendship networks. We will analyze four different culture groups: Czechs and Russians (Muscovites) both representing post-modernized cultures and Dagestans and Chechens both representing traditional cultures. The data will be analyzed using univariate comparisons and fixed effects regressions. Our results indicate that cultural background does not play such a crucial role for social network composition and social capital access through the family or friends. In both cases, Dagestans, Chechens and Czechs access significantly less social capital than do the Russians (Muscovites), however only if Russians (Muscovites) are in frequent contact with their families or have large friendship networks. In other words, network embeddedness seems to play a more important role than cultural background for social capital access. 

Keywords: социальные сети, модернизация, culture, social networks, modernization, tradition, individual social capital, индивидуальный социальный капитал, resource generator

Publication based on the results of: Socio-psychological consequences of adaptation to changing cultural and socio-economic conditions in the post-Soviet space (2017)