Abstract
Intercollegiate athletics in the United States have been linked with enhancing the
sense of community between students on campus (Clopton, 2008). Still, little
evidence confirms that maintaining a prominent athletics program contributes to
the social capital of students on campus who follow those teams. Consisting of
networks of relationships based on trust and norms of reciprocity, social capital
is disaggregated into bonding (tightening connections between similar individuals)
or bridging (establishing new connections with other members of the campus
community) varieties (Putnam, 2000). Results suggest that fan identity detracts
from a student’s overall social capital and showed no contribution to one’s bridging
social capital. This notion has potential ramification in higher education policy
development as the connection between student affairs and athletics is increasingly
encouraged (McKindra, 2008).
Description
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