Explaining Lifestyle Influenced by the Virtual Space and Its Impact on Social Capital (Case Study of Young People Aged 15-34 years in Isfahan, 2015)

Abstract

Social media and in particular cyberspace have created many changes in the lives and lifestyles of people. The causes and degree of the tendency of people to the space are different under the influence of individual characteristics and social factors. The consequences of such a lifestyle are different. According to the sociologists specializing in this field, one of the consequences is the growth and consolidation of the social capitals. Social capital is a product of individual or collective investment and strategies in the creation and reproduction of social communication either consciously or unconsciously.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the lifestyle influenced by the cyberspace and its impact on social capital in both real and virtual worlds via a survey among 361 young people aged 15-34 years in Isfahan in 2015. The target citizens were selected as the participants using a quota sampling method. Data analysis was done using SPSS and Amos Software.

These are the most important findings of this study: The mean score of the lifestyle influenced by the virtual space is the same between men and women. The mean score of the lifestyle influenced by the cyberspace is different in terms of age, socio-economic base, educational level, marital status and style of living. There is a direct relationship between the lifestyle influenced by cyberspace and social capital in the real world. But social capital in the virtual world does not find such relationship. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) of the study also indicates no confirmed data collected by the theoretical framework of research.