This paper explores country-level macro-structural conditions that are associated with social capital, measured as individuals’ access to social resources. To explain differences in social capital across societies, we formulate hypotheses based on welfare state generosity, cultural orientations (collectivism vs. individualism), and income inequality. We test our hypotheses using data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) 2017, which comprises a total sample size of 50,010 individuals living in 33 countries. We use the position generator survey instrument to build two composite measures of social capital: the diversity and the socio-economic status of social contacts. Multilevel regression models reveal that diversity of social contacts is generally greater among individuals in countries with generous welfare states, while access to contacts of a higher socio-economic status is generally better among individuals in countries with higher levels of individualism. A country’s income inequality is not associated with the social capital of its citizens. However, the association between a person’s socioeconomic status and the diversity of their social capital is moderated by income inequality. As such, our study serves to demonstrate that macro-social conditions at the country level do influence individual social capital and have different implications depending on the dimension considered.

中文翻译：

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不同社会获得社会资本的差异

本文探讨了与社会资本相关的国家层面的宏观结构条件，以个人获取社会资源的情况来衡量。为了解释不同社会之间社会资本的差异，我们根据福利国家的慷慨程度、文化取向（集体主义与个人主义）和收入不平等提出了假设。我们使用 2017 年国际社会调查计划 (ISSP) 的数据来检验我们的假设，该计划的总样本量为生活在 33 个国家的 50,010 人。我们使用位置生成器调查工具建立社会资本的两个综合衡量标准：社会交往的多样性和社会经济地位。多级回归模型显示，在福利国家慷慨的国家中，个人的社会交往多样性通常更大，而在个人主义水平较高的国家，个人通常更容易接触到较高社会经济地位的人。一个国家的收入不平等与其公民的社会资本无关。然而，一个人的社会经济地位与其社会资本多样性之间的关联受到收入不平等的调节。因此，我们的研究旨在证明国家层面的宏观社会条件确实会影响个人社会资本，并且根据所考虑的维度产生不同的影响。一个人的社会经济地位与其社会资本多样性之间的关联受到收入不平等的调节。因此，我们的研究旨在证明国家层面的宏观社会条件确实会影响个人社会资本，并且根据所考虑的维度产生不同的影响。一个人的社会经济地位与其社会资本多样性之间的关联受到收入不平等的调节。因此，我们的研究旨在证明国家层面的宏观社会条件确实会影响个人社会资本，并且根据所考虑的维度产生不同的影响。