Social Capital Assessment in Tehran Residents using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)

Social capital is a new concept that has recently entered the social, economic, and health domains. The role of social capital is more important than that of physical and human capitals because in its absence, other capitals will not be efficient. Social capital includes networks of communication between individuals and social norms such as mutual trust and cooperation in social networks. The present study aimed to determine the variables associated with social capital components among the residents of Tehran using structural equation modeling.
The target population of this cross-sectional study included all the individuals aging 15 years old and above in Tehran. Overall, 22500 households in 22 regions were investigated. The samples were selected through stratified random sampling. Finally, the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and the Lisrel software.
According to the results, the main components of social capital include 1- individual trust, including jobs status and marital status, 2- physical dimension (life quality), age, and solidarity and social support, including educational status, marital status, and job status, and 3- social trust and associative relations, including family size, physical component, age, and home ownership.
Improving the level of education, creating more job opportunities, and facilitating marriage especially amongst the youth can elevate the social capital in Tehran. Controlling the family size can also be effective in improving the social capital.