Social Capital and Its Association with Health and Well-Being: An Individual-Level Analysis in Seoul, South Korea

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between social capital and health/well-being in Seoul, South Korea. The data was collected from June 2009 to September 2009. The full sample includes 811 respondents, from all 25 districts in Seoul. Social capital was measured by adopting a structural and cognitive dimension. Structural social capital was measured by network diversity, organization membership, political participation, and volunteer work;cognitive social capital was measured by trust. The results show that the cognitive dimension of social capital is positively associated with all three dependent variables. However, the results are varied in terms of the structural dimension of social capital. Specifically, organization membership and political participation did not affect any dependent variables. The study has provided evidence for the relationship between social capital and health/well-being,and is therefore expected to provide recommendations for future work that should be considered in South Korea.