Analyzing the Relationship of Social Capital with Reflexive Identity (Case Study: Students of Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University)

Abstract

Scholars of social sciences believe that social capital is one of the variables which can directly and indirectly effect on the identity of individuals of a society. Therefore, the present study is to investigate the relationship of social capital with reflexive identity among students. This study is a survey research conducted on 316 BA/BSc students of Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University in academic year 2015-2016. The participants were selected via the stratified sampling technique. The data collection instrument is a researcher-made questionnaire. Findings of the study show that there is a direct significant correlation between social capital and its dimensions (Social trust, social participation, social cohesion, social support, and the volume ofcommunication networks) with reflexive identity of students. That is with the increase in the degree of students’ social capital, their reflexive identity is reinforced as well. The results obtained form the regression test show that the five dimensions of social capital, i.e. Social trust, social participation, communication network size, social cohesion, and social support) could explain 20% of variations of students’ reflexive identity.

Keywords

• social capital
• identity
• reflexive identity