Social capital and the intergenerational transmission of cultural capital: How parents’ social networks influence children's accumulation of cultural capital

Abstract

How does families’ social networks influence the transmission of cultural capital to their children? Earlier research on this process has mainly focused on within-family mechanisms, and the role of social capital as conceptualized by Pierre Bourdieu has here received little attention. This article explores this question through a study of parents’ social ties and parents’ and children's cultural, leisurely, and athletic practices, using Geometric Data Analysis and regression analysis of data on children (N = 4754) and their parents in the city of Bergen, Norway. The analysis finds that parents with social ties to higher status occupations have children that are more often exposed to traditional legitimate forms of culture, also when other familial resources are controlled for. When ties composition is heterogeneous, composed of both working class and elite ties, elite ties shape cultural consumption. The study finds evidence of Bourdieu's multiplier hypothesis, that returns from other capitals is multiplied by social capital, also that high volumes of social capital can compensate somewhat for having no cultural capital. Within-family characteristics are key to understanding the intergenerational transmission of cultural capital, but significant support for this process may be found in parents’ social networks.