All fun and games: How gender and social class are associated with the benefits of social group participation

Cultural participation has largely been measured through high status events and is believed to provide social benefits through participation. However, these past measurement approaches do not account for activities that people may do, nor might they accurately represent cultural participation of lower status groups. To address this, I first show social group patterns in frequency of participation and variety of types of cultural participation, both through cultural activities (chapter 3) and cultural events people attend (chapter 4), using separate secondary analysis of data from the UK-based, Taking Part Study of adults aged 16–95 (N = 10,171). Cluster analysis grouped participants based on their cultural participation, and logistic analysis showed social class and gender differences between participation groups. Second, I explore how social class and gender be associated with the benefits of afterschool participation, using secondary analysis of the Growing Up in Ireland study of Irish 13-year-olds (N = 7,525). Participation frequency was analyzed using negative binomial analysis to show gendered (chapter 5) and social classed (chapter 6) participation differences and subsequent effects on mental health. Effects were found across both gender and social class for specific activity types (group sport, individual sport, creative activities, community activities, and homework clubs) and the variety of activities participated in. Taken together, these studies show how social class and gender are associated with cultural participation, and the relationships this has on mental health gained through participating in social groups.