Characteristics Of Social Capital

Social capital has been defined as the characteristics of social structures such as networks, norms and trustworthiness that can enhance the productivity of society by facilitating the members’ interactions (121). Researchers have studied different indicators of social capital: social participation, social trust, norms of reciprocity and social cohesion have been found to be among the most important indicators (122) . Social participation refers to people's social integration and interaction with others; it includes participation in social activities, such as visiting family or friends, going to restaurants or parties, and/or attending exercise classes (122). Social trust points to the level of belief in the honesty, integrity and reliability

The literature reveals a positive relationship between social capital-related dimensions and physical activity (122, 123). Brennan et al. (123) report a positive association between perceived protective social factors based on dimensions such as social participation, trust, social cohesion, and safety with an increased probability of meeting physical activity recommendations. Ball et al. (122) found that women who describe higher levels of social participation, trust, norms of reciprocity, social cohesion and community connectedness tend to report higher levels of leisure time physical activities, and, in particular, leisure time walking in their own

Cultural standards and gender role expectations are the most complicated social factors that affect physical activity, and are probably the least studied (115). Women’s social roles, based on cultural expectations such as household activities and caregiving responsibilities, present significant barriers to physical activity (7, 8, 61, 106, 115, 130). Household tasks and family responsibilities have been found to impact the level of physical activity among women for four main reasons: First, these activities require a lot of time and thus cause time constraints; second, these tasks are physically demanding, causing women to be too tired to participate in other physical activities; third, these responsibilities take priority in women’s lives, and if they neglect their main duties to be more physically active, they feel guilty for wasting time; and, fourth, these tasks make women’s schedules busy, causing them to feel as if they are already physically active enough (7, 61, 115,