Social Capital in Rural and Urban Communities

Testing Differences in Media Effects and Models

Bibliographic Data

ID23325151
AuthorsChristopher E Beaudoin (0000-0003-0649-3347, Indiana University Bloomington), Esther Thorson (0000-0002-6514-801X, University of Missouri)
Year2004
Volume81
Issue2
Pages378-399
Publication date2004-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism & Mass Communication Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1077-6990 • E-ISSN: 2161-430X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/107769900408100210
OpenAlexW2017204342
LanguageEN
Citations received64
References cited12

This study examines whether the effects of the mass media on social capital and related processes vary between rural and urban communities. A distinction is made between indicators of social networks (association membership and neighborliness), social trust (interpersonal trust and community trust), and pro-social behaviors (voting and volunteering). We test nonrecursive structural equation models with manifest and latent variables on rural and urban U.S. samples. Media effects differ by medium and by community type. Newspaper use has positive effects in each model, while those of entertainment TV viewing are negative. Local TV news use has positive effects in only the urban model, while network TV news use has positive effects in only the rural model. In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship between social networks and social trust in the rural model, while the relationship is linear—from social networks to social trust—in the urban model.

Advertising · Business · Interpersonal communication · Latent variable · Newspaper · Political science · Social capital · Social media · Social network (sociolinguistics) · Social science · Sociology · Structural equation modeling · Voting · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Capital and Networks · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

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