The Forgotten Dimensions of Social Capital: Evidence from Quality of Life Studies

The literature on Quality Of Life (QOL) has boomed within the last two decades, as attested by the number of publications and the number of journals dedicated to the matter. As any field, it is characterized by a specific epistemological flavor, which has influences on the choice of the concepts and their use. In this paper, I look specifically at the multiple conceptualizations of social capital within and outside QOL studies. I adopt the Systematic Review Method (SR) to observe the body of literature on social capital and SWB. Usually referring to Bourdieu, Coleman and Putnam, I scrutinize how these concepts of social capital are represented in QOL studies. I observe it is mostly referring to a horizontal, Putnamian conception of social capital. The other dimensions of social capital seem less visible. In particular, I observe a lack of consideration for the conflictual as well as vertical dimensions of social capital. I question the reasons for these trends and argue there could be a romantic bias within QOL studies.