Primary Relationships and Social Participation in a Korean Metropolitan City

Abstract

This article attempts to investigate patterns of association between primary relationships (in both kinship and neighborhood relations) and social participation in voluntary associations in a Korean metropolitan city. Two alternative hypotheses, that is, an incompatibility hypothesis positing a negative relation between primary relationships and social participation and a reinforcement hypothesis positing a positive relationship were derived. The data were collected from 1,047 households and housewives through self-administered questionnaires. Multiple regression analysis was applied to assess the hypotheses, controlling for 7 individual variables. The results lend strong support to the reinforcement hypothesis, indicating the positive influences of primary relationships on social participation. Finally, this article discusses some probable mechanisms underlying the findings in Korean urban contexts.