Religion and Social Capital: The Study of Relationship between Participation in Religious Communities and Social Capital

In contemporary sociological debates, the concept of social capital is as a rich theoretical concept with e dense research findings and Because of its association with different dimensions of development in the society, social and political policymakers have focused on investigation of its role on development. With this regard, the aim of the survey is to study the association between participation in religious communities and social capital among residents in Shiraz city. Using multi-stage cluster sampling method 410 participants (196 male, 214 female) randomly selected and answered to the questionnaire. The results show between participation in religious communities and the different dimensions of social capital such as social cohesion, inter-group trust and institutional trust there is a significant positive correlation, except social participation findings also show that correlation with institutional trust is stronger than other dimensions. This means that with increased participation in religious communities, participant's social capital increases. The investigators suggest future research to analyze the content of the messages in religious communities can also affect different dimension of social capital.