Social capital and physical activity: a literature review up to March 2024
BackgroundSocial capital, as a multidimensional social science concept, plays a crucial role in promoting physical activity. Despite numerous studies exploring the relationship between social capital and physical activity, there is still a lack of systematic understanding of how different dimensions...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1467571/full |
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| author | Zhendong Gao Chen Soon Chee Roxana Dev Omar Dev Yutong Liu Jianhong Gao Rui Li Fangyi Li Xiaoxiao Liu Tao Wang |
| author_facet | Zhendong Gao Chen Soon Chee Roxana Dev Omar Dev Yutong Liu Jianhong Gao Rui Li Fangyi Li Xiaoxiao Liu Tao Wang |
| author_sort | Zhendong Gao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundSocial capital, as a multidimensional social science concept, plays a crucial role in promoting physical activity. Despite numerous studies exploring the relationship between social capital and physical activity, there is still a lack of systematic understanding of how different dimensions of social capital influence physical activity levels. This study aims to systematically review the literature up to 2024 on the relationship between social capital and physical activity, uncover the role of social capital in promoting physical activity, and identify its multidimensional impacts.MethodsWe used a combination of search terms including “social capital” and “physical activity” to search the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, SportDiscus, and PsychINFO databases for English literature published up to March 1, 2024.ResultsWe identified 2,021 unique articles and reviewed 115 studies that met our inclusion criteria. These studies evaluated various dimensions of social capital, with key dimensions including social participation (34%), social networks (30%), social cohesion (30%), social trust (29%), overall social network (26%), social support (19%), safety (19%), norms of reciprocity (13%), social control (10%), satisfaction with the environment (8%), collective efficacy (4%), norms for physical activity (3%), and voting (1%). In studies exploring the relationship between social capital and physical activity, the majority of positive results in the hypothesized direction were observed in dimensions such as social cohesion, trust, participation, reciprocity, satisfaction with the environment, and overall social networks. In contrast, dimensions such as voting, collective efficacy, safety, control, and physical activity norms predominantly showed null or negative results. The results for social support were mixed, displaying positive, negative, and null outcomes, while findings for social networks were also predominantly mixed.ConclusionThis study reveals the significant role of social capital in promoting physical activity, particularly in the dimensions of social cohesion, social trust, social participation, norms of reciprocity, satisfaction with environment, and overall social network. When designing public health interventions in the future, it is crucial to tailor strategies to different populations and contexts to better leverage social capital in promoting physical activity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c847b9ea7a0c40f59e82d46a90e7631c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-c847b9ea7a0c40f59e82d46a90e7631c2025-02-12T07:25:49ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652025-02-011310.3389/fpubh.2025.14675711467571Social capital and physical activity: a literature review up to March 2024Zhendong Gao0Chen Soon Chee1Roxana Dev Omar Dev2Yutong Liu3Jianhong Gao4Rui Li5Fangyi Li6Xiaoxiao Liu7Tao Wang8Department of Sports Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment of Sports Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment of Sports Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment of Sports Teaching and Research, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, ChinaDepartment of Sports Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment of Sports Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment of Sports Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment of Sports Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment of Sports Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaBackgroundSocial capital, as a multidimensional social science concept, plays a crucial role in promoting physical activity. Despite numerous studies exploring the relationship between social capital and physical activity, there is still a lack of systematic understanding of how different dimensions of social capital influence physical activity levels. This study aims to systematically review the literature up to 2024 on the relationship between social capital and physical activity, uncover the role of social capital in promoting physical activity, and identify its multidimensional impacts.MethodsWe used a combination of search terms including “social capital” and “physical activity” to search the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, SportDiscus, and PsychINFO databases for English literature published up to March 1, 2024.ResultsWe identified 2,021 unique articles and reviewed 115 studies that met our inclusion criteria. These studies evaluated various dimensions of social capital, with key dimensions including social participation (34%), social networks (30%), social cohesion (30%), social trust (29%), overall social network (26%), social support (19%), safety (19%), norms of reciprocity (13%), social control (10%), satisfaction with the environment (8%), collective efficacy (4%), norms for physical activity (3%), and voting (1%). In studies exploring the relationship between social capital and physical activity, the majority of positive results in the hypothesized direction were observed in dimensions such as social cohesion, trust, participation, reciprocity, satisfaction with the environment, and overall social networks. In contrast, dimensions such as voting, collective efficacy, safety, control, and physical activity norms predominantly showed null or negative results. The results for social support were mixed, displaying positive, negative, and null outcomes, while findings for social networks were also predominantly mixed.ConclusionThis study reveals the significant role of social capital in promoting physical activity, particularly in the dimensions of social cohesion, social trust, social participation, norms of reciprocity, satisfaction with environment, and overall social network. When designing public health interventions in the future, it is crucial to tailor strategies to different populations and contexts to better leverage social capital in promoting physical activity.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1467571/fullsocial capitalphysical activitypublic healthsocial cohesionsocial trustsocial participation |
| spellingShingle | Zhendong Gao Chen Soon Chee Roxana Dev Omar Dev Yutong Liu Jianhong Gao Rui Li Fangyi Li Xiaoxiao Liu Tao Wang Social capital and physical activity: a literature review up to March 2024 Frontiers in Public Health social capital physical activity public health social cohesion social trust social participation |
| title | Social capital and physical activity: a literature review up to March 2024 |
| title_full | Social capital and physical activity: a literature review up to March 2024 |
| title_fullStr | Social capital and physical activity: a literature review up to March 2024 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social capital and physical activity: a literature review up to March 2024 |
| title_short | Social capital and physical activity: a literature review up to March 2024 |
| title_sort | social capital and physical activity a literature review up to march 2024 |
| topic | social capital physical activity public health social cohesion social trust social participation |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1467571/full |
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