Community social capital in Malaysia and its relationship with demographic factors

To improve life quality and to facilitate the society development process, social capital can be a vital concept in identifying resources in the social network.This study discusses a study done in Malaysia on community social capital.Specifically, the purpose is to identify the between social capital dimensions and three demographic factors: age, monthly income, number of households and the relationship within the dimensions itself.Six social capital dimensions were identified namely participation in community activities, pro activity in the social context, neighborhood connections, multi-racial tolerance, a sense of trust and protection and life values. Based on a focus group discussion and past studies, 36 items were developed to measure the six dimensions of social capital.A total of 293 respondents were selected based on simple random sampling in six different districts in Malaysia. Result found that age only correlated significantly with the multi-racial tolerance dimension. Monthly income and the number of households did not have any significant relationship with any social capital dimensions. However, significant associations were found within the dimensions itself.In general, demographic factors do not necessarily affect community social capital but the dimensions within the social capital truly play important role in determining and facilitating society development process