Inequality in Access to Social Capital: Assessing the Role of Cultural Practices

Previous research in social science established the existence of mutual relationship between cultural tastes and social networks. What is less known, however, is how this connectivity translates into tangible social benefits (social capital). By applying the resource generator tool, the article explores the extent to which access to different social resources (social capital) is related to pursuing different cultural activities, independent of social standing and network features. Empirically, the possibilities of locally representative survey data (N = 1010) from Poland (2017) are exploited. The analysis brings two main findings: (i) participation in elite culture is positively associated with better access to instrumental resources (lending money, job assistance), (ii) while popular culture is more relevant to “information and (cultural) influences” social capital and to general access to resources. The contribution of the study is to show that cultural consumption may assist in the accumulation of important social resources and thus contribute to solidifying social inequalities