ATTITUDINAL CORRELATES OF SOCIAL PARTICIPATION.

The article focuses on the attitudinal correlations of social participation. Attitudes reflecting a basic outlook on life may be expected to be related to social participation in two ways: First, those who have certain attitudes are more likely to be drawn into social participation than those who have opposing attitudes. Second, social participation tends to develop a certain outlook on life which nonparticipants are less likely to acquire. Nevertheless, it is of theoretical and practical significance to ascertain the mere fact of correlation between social participation and the kinds of attitudes people shall consider. The attitudes that are the subject of study in this paper are some of those referring to respondents' own lives, other people, or society in general. Thus, the greater the extent to which a person participates in organized activity, the greater is his opportunity to internalize the meanings and values which constitute the culture. In this study, the reciprocal relationship between theory-construction and empirical research is exemplified. The theory has led to hypotheses which, when tested, confirm the theory. At the same time, this test has raised questions regarding the variable functioning of factors included in the theory and thus provides a means for further specification of the theory.