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Transforming Individual Civic Engagement into Community Collective Efficacy: The Role of Bonding Social Capital

  • Original Article
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American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

Collective efficacy is defined as residents’ perceived collective capacity to take coordinated and interdependent action on issues that affect their lives. This study explored factors associated with neighborhood collective efficacy among residents. Utilizing a national sample of 4,120 urban households provided by Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Making Connection Initiative, we investigated the mediating role of residents’ perceptions of bonding social capital (i.e. reciprocity, trust, and shared norms) in the association between civic engagement and collective efficacy. Multiple regression analyses revealed that civic engagement and bonding social capital were both directly related to collective efficacy. Additionally, bonding social capital partially mediated the relationship between civic engagement and collective efficacy. Specifically, residents who reported greater levels of civic engagement also reported higher levels of bonding social capital. In turn, residents who reported higher levels of bonding social capital also reported higher levels of neighborhood collective efficacy. We discuss implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners interested in associations of neighborhood collective efficacy.

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Notes

  1. Thirty-six cases were not included t test analyses due to missingness on the outcome variable collective efficacy.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Rebecca Campbell and William Davidson II for their helpful feedback on this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington, Box 358530, 18115 Campus Way NE, Bothell, WA, 98011-8246, USA

    Charles R. Collins

  2. Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Jennifer Watling Neal & Zachary P. Neal

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  1. Charles R. Collins
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  2. Jennifer Watling Neal
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  3. Zachary P. Neal
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Correspondence to Charles R. Collins.

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Collins, C.R., Neal, J.W. & Neal, Z.P. Transforming Individual Civic Engagement into Community Collective Efficacy: The Role of Bonding Social Capital. Am J Community Psychol 54, 328–336 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-014-9675-x

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